Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53726-2336, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2011 Aug;101(8):1449-55. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2010.300078. Epub 2011 Jun 16.
We determined factors associated with hearing aid acquisition in older adults.
We conducted a population-based, prospective study that used information from 3 examinations performed on study participants as part of the Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study (1993-2005). We included participants (n = 718; mean age = 70.5 years) who exhibited hearing loss at baseline or the first follow-up and had no prior history of hearing aid use. We defined hearing loss as a pure tone threshold average (PTA) at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kilohertz in the better ear of greater than 25 decibels Hearing Level.
The 10-year cumulative incidence of hearing aid acquisition was 35.7%. Associated factors included education (college graduate vs all others: hazard ratio [HR] = 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5, 4.1), self-perception of hearing (poor vs good or better: HR = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.3, 5.0), score on a perceived hearing handicap inventory (+1 difference: HR = 1.1; 95% CI = 1.0, 1.1), and PTA (+ 5 dB difference: HR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.2, 1.6).
The low rate of hearing aid ownership among older adults is a problem that still needs to be addressed.
我们确定了与老年人助听器获取相关的因素。
我们进行了一项基于人群的前瞻性研究，该研究使用了作为听力损失流行病学研究（1993-2005 年）一部分的研究参与者三次检查的信息。我们纳入了在基线或第一次随访时出现听力损失且之前没有使用过助听器的参与者（n=718；平均年龄为 70.5 岁）。我们将听力损失定义为在较好耳的 0.5、1、2 和 4 千赫兹处的纯音听阈平均值（PTA）大于 25 分贝听力级。
10 年累计助听器获取率为 35.7%。相关因素包括教育程度（大学毕业者与其他所有人相比：风险比[HR]=2.5；95%置信区间[CI]=1.5，4.1）、自我感知听力（差与好或更好：HR=2.5；95%CI=1.3，5.0）、听力障碍感知量表得分（增加 1 分：HR=1.1；95%CI=1.0，1.1）和 PTA（增加 5dB 差异：HR=1.4；95%CI=1.2，1.6）。
老年人助听器拥有率低是一个仍需解决的问题。
