Dane J. Genther|Kevin D. Frick|David Chen|Joshua Betz|Frank R. Lin
Association of Hearing Loss With Hospitalization and Burden of Disease in Older Adults
Johns Hopkins Medicine|Johns Hopkins University
editor hearing loss hl chronic condition affects nearly 2 every 3 adults aged 70 years older united states 1 hearing loss broader implications older adults independently associated poorer cognitive 2 physical functioning 3he association hl health economic outcomes health care use unstudiedwe investigated association hl hospitalization burden disease nationally representative study adults aged 70 years oldermethodswe analyzed combined data 20052006 20092010 cycles national health nutrition examination survey nhanes ongoing epidemiological study designed assess health functional status civilian noninstitutionalized us population 4 airconduction puretone audiometry administered individuals aged 70 years older according established nhanes protocolshearing defined per world health organization 5 average hearing thresholds decibels speech frequencies 054 khz betterhearing ear range 0100 dbdata hospitalizations previous 12 months burden disease previous 30 days gathered computerassisted intervieweradministered questionnaireshospitalization defined hospitalization yes number hospitalizations 0 1 1 timesburden disease defined selfreported number days poor physical health poor mental health inactivity due health 010 10 days 4 data analyzed using stepwise multivariable logistic ordinal logistic regression models investigate association hl continuous variable per 25 db hospitalization burden disease adjusting demographic characteristics cardiovascular risk factorswe accounted complex sampling design using sample