The association between non-communicable disease and hearing aid adoption in older adults with hearing loss

Abstract

Objective. To assess whether specific non-communicable diseases are associated with hearing aid adoption in older adults with hearing loss. Design.A cross-sectional, observational study. Study sample.Data was obtained from one of the largest pharmacy-led health and beauty retailers in the United Kingdom. In total, 17,172 older adults were included. Results. Greater odds of adopting hearing aids were associated with being older (Odds ratio[OR]= 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI]= 1.02, 1.03), having fewer self-reported hearing difficulties (OR= 0.61; 95% CI= 0.58, 0.64), and greater audiometric hearing loss (OR= 1.68; 95% CI= 1.54, 1.83). The odds of adopting hearing aids were lower if individuals self-reported hypertension (OR= 0.87; 95% CI= 0.79, 0.97) and diabetes (OR= 0.83; 95% CI= 0.72, 0.95). Using a decision tree model, self-reported hearing difficulties, audiometric hearing loss, and age were the best combination of variables to differentiate between individuals that did and did not adopt hearing aids.Conclusions. This study demonstrates that hearing aid adoption is lower in older adults with cardiovascular disease risk factors. Thus, there is a need for healthcare professionals to identify older adults living with hearing loss and cardiovascular ill-health, ensuring that they receive appropriate patient-centred support to manage their health.

Factors Influencing Hearing Help-Seeking and Hearing Aid Uptake in Adults: A Systematic Review of the Past Decade

“…Although 16 studies reported no association, eight studies reported that people were more likely to adopt hearing aids if they were older ( Angara et al, 2021 ; Gopinath et al, 2011 ; Maidment & Wege, 2021 ; Saunders et al, 2016 , 2013 ; Sawyer et al, 2020 ; Singh & Launer, 2016 , 2018 ). Conversely, Chang et al (2016) reported that people were more likely to accept a hearing aid if they were younger in an older cohort (65–90 years of age).…”

Investigating ethnic inequalities in hearing aid use in England and Wales: a cross-sectional study

“…Health: The existence of other health problems has a mixed association with hearing aid use. Some studies have found a positive association between comorbidities and hearing aid use [10], whereas other studies have found that lower overall health status [1], and conditions such as hypertension and diabetes [7] can increase the risk of not using hearing aids. We included binary variables for diagnoses of diabetes, osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disorder (heart attack, stroke, angina, deep vein thrombosis or other related condition), which have been found to be related to hearing aid use by Fisher et al [10]).…”

“…Research on hearing help-seeking and hearing aid uptake has tended to neglect ethnicity, meaning that there is little evidence to draw upon to explain the ethnic inequalities in this area. The available body of evidence on correlates of hearing aid use includes a number of reviews [4][5][6], and studies using UK data [1,7,8], yet only two studies among this entire body report results on ethnicity, and only one of these [1] uses UK data. While theories have been proposed concerning the influence of cultural factors on hearing help-seeking and hearing aid uptake (see [9] for a review), there is no direct evidence linking cultural factors to ethnic inequalities in hearing aid use.…”

“…While theories have been proposed concerning the influence of cultural factors on hearing help-seeking and hearing aid uptake (see [9] for a review), there is no direct evidence linking cultural factors to ethnic inequalities in hearing aid use. Multiple studies and reviews have found that the most important predictor of hearing aid use is self-reported hearing difficulty [1,[4][5][6][7]10,11]. Although it is known that self-reported hearing difficulty does not explain ethnic inequalities in hearing aid use [1], the existence of ethnic inequalities in the acknowledgement and awareness of hearing difficulty are unknown.…”

Test Your Health at Home: Comparing Online Screening Tests of Hearing, Cognition, and Cardiovascular Health

“…Critically, the presence of additional health conditions has been shown to be a barrier to hearing loss management (Barnett et al, 2016). For instance, a recent analysis of a large cohort (N = 17,172) based in the United Kingdom (UK) found that cardiovascular ill-health was associated with decreased odds of adopting hearing aids (Maidment & Wege, 2021). Similarly, an Australian based cohort study (N = 1,371) identified that a history of stroke was a significant predictor of reduced hearing aid ownership (Gopinath et al, 2011).…”