Prevalence rates of hearing impairment and comorbid conditions in older people: the Veneto Study.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the prevalence rate of hearing impairment, assessed by both the Sanders' questionnaire and the speech audiometry test, and its association with health-related factors in the older population of the Veneto region of Italy.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey.

SETTING

A community-based population.

PARTICIPANTS

2398 noninstitutionalized individuals aged 65 years and older residing in the Veneto region of Italy.

MEASUREMENTS

Prevalence rates of hearing impairment and odds ratios for its association with potential risk factors.

MAIN RESULTS

The prevalence of self-reported hearing impairment at home was 8.1% in men and 7.4% in women, and in a social environment it was 11.1% and 9.3%, respectively. Women were less likely to report hearing difficulties in both environments, and increased risks were found for depression, age, and poor self-rated health. Participants with diabetes or cognitive impairment had increased odds only at home, in contrast to people with a low education level, who had increased odds only in a social environment. The prevalence assessed by speech audiometry was 19% in both sexes. Increased age, diabetes, and poor self-rated health were associated with impaired speech intelligibility, cognitive impairment was associated with 4-fold increased odds among past users of alcohol, and men with a low education level were about three times as likely as others to have hearing impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

Speech audiometry testing detected a higher prevalence of hearing impairment than use of a self-reported questionnaire and was associated with poor self-rated health, history of diabetes, and cognitive impairment among past users of alcohol and among men with low levels of education. The association between hearing deficit and depressive symptomatology was confirmed only with self-reported hearing impairment.