Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/188828
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- Title
- Hearing loss impacts on the use of community and informal supports
- Related
- Age and ageing, Vol. 39, No. 4, (2010), p.458-464
- DOI
- 10.1093/ageing/afq051
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Date
- 2010
- FoR/RFCD Code(s)
-
110300 Clinical Sciences
170100 Psychology
- Author/Creator
- Schneider, Julie
- Author/Creator
- Gopinath, Bamini
- Author/Creator
- Karpa, Michael J
- Author/Creator
- McMahon, Catherine M
- Author/Creator
- Rochtchina, Elena
- Author/Creator
- Leeder, Stephen R
- Author/Creator
- Mitchell, Paul
- Description
- Objective: the aim of this study is to estimate the cross-sectional and longitudinal impact of hearing loss on use of community support services and reliance on non-spouse family/friends among older people. Methods: Blue Mountains Hearing Study participants (n = 2,956) were assessed for hearing impairment by audiologists in sound-treated booths. Participants were classified as hearing impaired if PTA0.5–4 kHz >25 dB HL. Use of services and non-spouse family/friend support was assessed cross-sectionally. Incident use was assessed among survivors at the 5-year follow-up (n = 1,457). Results: a significant cross-sectional association between hearing loss (>25 dB HL) and use of community support services was observed after adjusting for age, sex, living status, self-rated poor health, self-reported hospital admissions, disability in walking and best-corrected visual impairment [odds ratio (OR) 2.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–3.90]. Participants with hearing loss who never used a hearing aid were twice as likely to use formal supports as participants without hearing loss (multivariate-adjusted OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.19–4.24). Hearing loss increased the incident need for non-spouse family/friend support or community services (multivariate-adjusted OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.02–2.18). Conclusions: after adjusting for confounding factors, hearing impairment negatively impacted on the independence of older persons by increasing reliance on community or family support.
- Description
- 7 page(s)
- Subject Keyword
- 110300 Clinical Sciences
- Subject Keyword
- 170100 Psychology
- Subject Keyword
- hearing loss
- Subject Keyword
- community services
- Subject Keyword
- informal support
- Subject Keyword
- Blue Mountains Eye Study
- Subject Keyword
- Blue Mountains Hearing Study
- Subject Keyword
- elderly
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Organisation
- Macquarie University. Dept. of Linguistics
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/188828
- Identifier
- ISSN:0002-0729
- Identifier
- mq-rm-2010004979
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
