Stonkute Donata, Vierboom Yana
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2025 Feb 10;80(3). doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbae202.
Affecting 1 in 5 adults in Europe, hearing loss (HL) is linked to adverse health outcomes, including dementia. We aim to investigate educational inequalities in hearing health in Europe and how these inequalities change with age, gender, and region.
Utilizing 2004-2020 data from the Harmonized Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a representative sample of Europeans aged 50 and older, we analyze: (1) age-standardized prevalence of HL and hearing aid (HA) use among eligible individuals and (2) educational inequalities therein using the Relative Index of Inequality across age, gender, and European regions.
The prevalence of self-reported HL increases with age, is greater among men, and is consistently higher among those with lower levels of education. At age 50-64, particularly in Southern and Eastern Europe, low-educated women experience more than 3 times the risk of HL compared to highly educated women. These inequalities diminish as women age. Northern Europe is a front-runner in meeting HA needs. Southern and Eastern Europe lag behind, with less than 2 in 10 individuals eligible for HAs utilizing them.
Substantial variations in the educational gradient of hearing health across age, gender, and European regions underscore the importance of targeting specific subpopulations in efforts to mitigate health inequalities. Of particular concern is the regional discrepancy between the prevalence of HL and the use of HAs. The example of Northern Europe suggests that there is unused potential to improve healthy aging in Europe through enhanced access to HAs.
听力损失（HL）影响着欧洲五分之一的成年人，与包括痴呆症在内的不良健康结果相关。我们旨在调查欧洲听力健康方面的教育不平等现象，以及这些不平等如何随年龄、性别和地区而变化。
利用欧洲健康、老龄化与退休协调调查（SHARE）2004 - 2020年的数据，该数据来自50岁及以上具有代表性的欧洲样本，我们分析：（1）符合条件个体中HL和助听器（HA）使用的年龄标准化患病率；（2）使用年龄、性别和欧洲地区的不平等相对指数来分析其中的教育不平等情况。
自我报告的HL患病率随年龄增长而增加，男性患病率更高，且教育程度较低者的患病率一直更高。在50 - 64岁年龄段，特别是在南欧和东欧，受教育程度低的女性患HL的风险是受教育程度高的女性的3倍多。随着女性年龄增长，这些不平等现象有所减少。北欧在满足HA需求方面处于领先地位。南欧和东欧则落后，每10名符合使用HA条件的人中使用HA的不到2人。
听力健康的教育梯度在年龄、性别和欧洲地区存在显著差异，这凸显了针对特定亚人群以减轻健康不平等现象的重要性。特别令人担忧的是HL患病率与HA使用之间的地区差异。北欧的例子表明，通过增加HA的可及性，欧洲在改善健康老龄化方面存在尚未利用的潜力。
