Hearing loss and use of health services : a population-based cross-sectional study among Finnish older adults
Mikkola, T., Polku, H., Sainio, P., Koponen, P., Koskinen, S., & Viljanen, A. (2016). Hearing loss and use of health services : a population-based cross-sectional study among Finnish older adults. BMC Geriatrics, 16(1), Article 182. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-016-0356-5
Published in
BMC GeriatricsAuthors
Date
2016Discipline
Gerontologia ja kansanterveysGerontologian tutkimuskeskusHyvinvoinnin tutkimuksen yhteisöGerontology and Public HealthGerontology Research CenterSchool of WellbeingCopyright
© The Author(s). 2016 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Background: Older adults with hearing difficulties face problems of communication which may lead to underuse
of health services. This study investigated the association of hearing loss and self-reported hearing difficulty with
the use of health services and unmet health care needs in older adults.
Methods: Data on persons aged 65 and older (n = 2144) drawn from a population-based study, Health 2000, were
analyzed. Hearing loss was determined with screening audiometry (n = 1680). Structured face-to-face interviews
were used to assess self-reported hearing difficulty (n = 1962), use of health services (physician and nurse visits,
health examinations, mental health services, physical therapy, health promotion groups, vision test, hearing test,
mammography, PSA test) and perceived unmet health care needs. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were
used.
Results: After adjusting for socio-economic and health-related confounders, persons with hearing loss (hearing
level of better ear 0.5–2 kHz > 40 dB) were more likely to have used mental health services than those with nonimpaired
hearing (OR = 3.2, 95 % CI 1.3–7.9). Self-reported hearing difficulty was also associated with higher odds
for mental health service use (OR = 2.1 95 % CI 1.2–3.5). Hearing was not associated with use of the other health
services studied, except presenting for a hearing test. Persons with self-reported hearing difficulty were more likely
to perceive unmet health care needs than those without hearing difficulty (OR = 1.7, 95 % CI 1.4–2.1).
Conclusions: Older adults with hearing loss or self-reported hearing difficulty are as likely to use most health
services as those without hearing loss. However, self-reported hearing difficulty is associated with experiencing
unmet health care needs. Adequate health services should be ensured for older adults with hearing difficulties.
...
Publisher
BioMed Central Ltd.ISSN Search the Publication Forum
1471-2318Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/26305812
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
- Liikuntatieteiden tiedekunta [2895]
License
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © The Author(s). 2016 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
The role of age and digital competence on the use of online health and social care services : A cross-sectional population-based survey
Heponiemi, T; Kaihlanen, A-M.; Kouvonen, A.; Leemann, L.; Taipale, S.; Gluschkoff, K. (SAGE Publications, 2022)Objective Online health and social care services are getting widespread which increases the risk that less advantaged groups may not be able to access these services resulting in digital exclusion. We examined the combined ... -
Psychological flexibility and systemic inflammation : cross-sectional and longitudinal associations among Finnish working-age adults with stress and overweight
Kipponen, Tiia (2016)In search for psychophysiological correlates of psychological flexibility, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether and how psychological flexibility is associated with systemic inflammation. The participants ... -
Ownership and use of commercial physical activity trackers among Finnish adolescents : Cross-sectional study
Ng, Kwok; Tynjälä, Jorma; Kokko, Sami (JMIR Publications Inc., 2017)Background: Mobile phone apps for monitoring and promoting physical activity (PA) are extremely popular among adults. Devices, such as heart rate monitors or sports watches (HRMs/SWs) that work with these apps are at ... -
Relationships between psychosocial well-being and leisure time physical activity among 160.000 young Finnish men : a cross-sectional study during 2015–2021
Appelqvist-Schmidlechner, Kaija; Heikkinen, Risto; Vasankari, Tommi; Virtanen, Toni; Pihlainen, Kai; Honkanen, Tuomas; Kyröläinen, Heikki; Vaara, Jani P. (Biomed Central; Belgian Association of Public Health, 2023)Evidence on the relationship between psychosocial well-being and physical activity (PA) is insufficient, especially in young adults between 18 and 29 years. Identifying protective factors for psychosocial well-being as ... -
Athletes' health care services in the Finnish sports academies
Hietala, Henni (2015)In today´s top-level sport environment, requirements to achieve success are demanding and athletic competition has totalized into a competition between sport systems. In order to keep up in this race, sport in Finland has ...