Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Hearing Research Center, Clinical Sciences Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
Front Public Health. 2023 Apr 17;11:1140500. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1140500. eCollection 2023.
Hearing loss is the fourth most common chronic disease, but studies on the relationship between hearing loss and socioeconomic factors are limited. We aimed to examine the association between hearing loss and socioeconomic factors among 35-70 year adults in southwest Iran.
This population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the baseline of Hoveyzeh cohort study in adults aged 35-70 in southwest Iran between 2017 and 2021. Information on socioeconomic factors, demographic characteristics, comorbidities, family history of hearing loss, and noise exposure was collected. We assessed the relationship between three levels of socioeconomic factors (individual, household, and area level) with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Multiple logistic regression was used to adjust the potential confounders.
Among a total of 1,365 assessed participants, 485 patients were diagnosed as having hearing loss, and the other 880 individuals were diagnosed without hearing loss, which is considered the case and the control group, respectively. At the individual level of socioeconomic, the odds of having hearing loss in the participants with high school education and diploma, [OR = 0.51 (95%CI:0.28-0.92)], and the individuals with university education [OR = 0.44 (95%CI:0.22-0.87)] were significantly lower than the illiterate participants. At the household socioeconomic level, the odds of having hearing loss were lower for those with poor [OR = 0.63 (95%CI:0.41-0.97)] and moderate [OR = 0.62 (95%CI:0.41-0.94)] wealth status vs. those with the poorest wealth status. In the area level socioeconomic, although the odds of hearing loss in the residents of affluent areas were slightly lower than the residents of deprived areas, there was no significant difference among the groups.
The individuals with hearing loss may have insufficient education and income.
听力损失是第四大常见慢性病，但有关听力损失与社会经济因素之间关系的研究有限。我们旨在检验伊朗西南部 35-70 岁成年人中听力损失与社会经济因素之间的关系。
这是一项基于人群的横断面研究，于 2017 年至 2021 年在伊朗西南部 Hoveyzeh 队列研究中对 35-70 岁的成年人进行。收集了社会经济因素、人口统计学特征、合并症、听力损失家族史和噪声暴露等信息。我们评估了三个层次的社会经济因素（个体、家庭和地区水平）与感音神经性听力损失（SNHL）之间的关系。使用多因素逻辑回归来调整潜在的混杂因素。
在总共评估的 1365 名参与者中，485 名患者被诊断为听力损失，其余 880 名个体被诊断为听力正常，分别作为病例组和对照组。在个体社会经济层面，具有高中学历和文凭的参与者发生听力损失的几率[比值比（OR）=0.51（95%置信区间：0.28-0.92）]，以及具有大学学历的个体[OR=0.44（95%置信区间：0.22-0.87）]明显低于文盲参与者。在家庭社会经济层面，与最贫穷的财富状况相比，贫穷[OR=0.63（95%置信区间：0.41-0.97）]和中等[OR=0.62（95%置信区间：0.41-0.94）]财富状况的个体发生听力损失的几率较低。在地区社会经济层面，尽管富裕地区居民的听力损失几率略低于贫困地区居民，但各组之间没有显著差异。
听力损失患者可能教育程度和收入较低。
