Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ear & Hearing, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ear Hear. 2021 July/Aug;42(4):793-802. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000983.
To identify predictors of the 5-year uptake of hearing aids (HAs) and hearing assistive technology (HAT) in a sample of Dutch employees eligible for HAs and/or HAT. The potential predictors included demographic factors (age, sex, marital status, and living situation), education, hearing factors (ability to recognize speech in noise and self-reported hearing disability), distress, self-efficacy, and work-related factors (job demand, job control, and need for recovery).
Five-year follow-up data of the Netherlands Longitudinal Study on Hearing (NL-SH) collected until January 2019 were included. An online digit-triplet in noise test, the National Hearing Test (NHT), was used to assess speech-recognition-in-noise ability. In addition, online questionnaires on demographic, socioeconomic, self-reported hearing disability, health, and work-related characteristics were administered. Adults who worked over 12 hours per week, who had not yet taken up HAs or HAT, but who would be eligible for HAs/HAT based on their NHT score (insufficient or poor hearing ability), were included in the study. The 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT was defined as a dichotomous variable of self-reported HA/HAT use reported 5 years later. Generalized Estimating Equations analyses were performed to analyze the associations between potential predicting factors and the 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT, taking into account the repeated measurements of the predicting factors and the 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT.
Data of 218 participants were included. The cumulative incidence of the 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT was 15 to 33%, of which 52 employees took up HAs and 11 employees took up HAT. Married participants had increased odds for 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT compared with unmarried participants (odds ratio [OR] = 2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05 to 4.35). Higher self-reported hearing disability (per one unit, scale range 0 to 74) was associated with increased odds for 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.07). Job demand showed a significant interaction with sex (p = 0.002), and therefore, stratified analyses were performed. In male participants, participants with higher job demand scores (per one unit, scale range 12 to 48) had increased odds for 5-year uptake of HAs/HAT (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.35). No difference was seen in females.
This study confirms that factors predicting the uptake of HAs/HAT in the general or older populations, including marital status and self-reported hearing disability, also extend to the working population. The identification of job demand as a predictor of the uptake of HAs/HAT (in males only) was a novel finding. It demonstrates the importance of considering work-related factors in aural rehabilitation.
在荷兰有资格获得助听器 (HA) 和听力辅助技术 (HAT) 的员工样本中，确定 5 年内使用 HA 和/或 HAT 的预测因素。潜在的预测因素包括人口统计学因素（年龄、性别、婚姻状况和生活状况）、教育程度、听力因素（在噪声中识别言语的能力和自我报告的听力障碍）、困扰、自我效能和与工作相关的因素（工作需求、工作控制和恢复需求）。
纳入了截至 2019 年 1 月的荷兰听力纵向研究 (NL-SH) 的 5 年随访数据。使用在线数字三重在噪声测试（NHT）评估言语识别噪声能力。此外，还在线问卷调查了人口统计学、社会经济、自我报告的听力障碍、健康和与工作相关的特征。每周工作超过 12 小时、尚未使用 HA 或 HAT、但根据其 NHT 评分（听力能力不足或差）有资格获得 HA/HAT 的成年人被纳入研究。HA/HAT 的 5 年使用率定义为 5 年后自我报告的 HA/HAT 使用的二项变量。考虑到预测因素的重复测量和 HA/HAT 的 5 年使用率，使用广义估计方程分析来分析潜在预测因素与 HA/HAT 5 年使用率之间的关联。
共纳入 218 名参与者。HA/HAT 的 5 年累积发病率为 15%至 33%，其中 52 名员工使用了 HA，11 名员工使用了 HAT。与未婚参与者相比，已婚参与者 HA/HAT 使用率的优势比（OR）为 2.13（95%置信区间 [CI] = 1.05 至 4.35）。自我报告的听力障碍每增加一个单位（量表范围为 0 至 74），HA/HAT 的使用率就会增加（OR = 1.05，95%CI = 1.03 至 1.07）。工作需求与性别呈显著交互作用（p = 0.002），因此进行了分层分析。在男性参与者中，工作需求评分较高（每单位，量表范围 12 至 48）的参与者 HA/HAT 的使用率更高（OR = 1.18，95%CI = 1.05 至 1.35）。女性则没有差异。
本研究证实，预测普通人群或老年人群中 HA/HAT 使用的因素，包括婚姻状况和自我报告的听力障碍，也适用于工作人群。工作需求被确定为 HA/HAT 使用的预测因素（仅在男性中）是一个新发现。它证明了在听觉康复中考虑与工作相关因素的重要性。
