Tsimpida Dialechti, Piroddi Roberta, Daras Konstantinos, Melis Gabriella
Centre for Research On Ageing, University of Southampton, Murray Building (58), Highfield Campus, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
Department of Gerontology, University of Southampton, Murray Building (58), Highfield Campus, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
J Public Health Policy. 2025 Sep;46(3):630-644. doi: 10.1057/s41271-025-00584-8. Epub 2025 Jul 11.
Hearing loss is a significant public health challenge, with prevalence estimates based on projected age demographics rather than actual public health needs. This study aimed to quantify hearing loss using real-world data from primary care and explore local patterns and trends from 2013 to 2022 in Cheshire and Merseyside counties of Northwest England. Annual hearing loss prevalence was measured using an ecological space-time analysis of 2.7 million primary care records from Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. We applied cluster and outlier analysis with geographically weighted regression to examine local deprivation effects. We detected spatial clusters of high prevalence of hearing loss in Cheshire and an increasing trend in hearing loss prevalence in Halton. Deprivation accounted for up to 35% of hearing loss variance in 2020. Monitoring spatial patterns of hearing loss is crucial for addressing health inequalities and guiding targeted prevention and intervention strategies.
听力损失是一项重大的公共卫生挑战，其患病率估计是基于预计的年龄人口统计数据，而非实际的公共卫生需求。本研究旨在利用基层医疗的真实世界数据对听力损失进行量化，并探索2013年至2022年英格兰西北部柴郡和默西塞德郡的局部模式和趋势。使用对柴郡和默西塞德综合医疗系统的270万份基层医疗记录进行生态时空分析的方法来测量年度听力损失患病率。我们应用聚类和离群值分析以及地理加权回归来检验局部贫困效应。我们在柴郡发现了听力损失高患病率的空间聚类，以及哈尔顿地区听力损失患病率的上升趋势。2020年贫困因素占听力损失差异的比例高达35%。监测听力损失的空间模式对于解决健康不平等问题以及指导有针对性的预防和干预策略至关重要。
