Hearing healthcare utilisation among older adults with self-reported hearing loss during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Hua Ou
PMID 36905138WHAT IT FOUND
40.1% of older adults delayed needed or planned medical care.
Among those with self-reported hearing loss who delayed care, 19.6% delayed hearing appointments. Top reasons were waiting, provider cancellation, and fear.
Key findings
0140.1% of older adults delayed needed or planned medical care, and 19.6% of those with self-reported hearing loss who delayed care delayed hearing healthcare.
02The most common reasons for delaying hearing healthcare were deciding they could wait (59.1%), provider cancellation, closure, or rescheduling (57.8%), and being afraid to go (40.7%).
03After adjustment, people with education beyond high school were more than twice as likely to delay hearing appointments, and Hispanic individuals had a reduced likelihood of postponing hearing healthcare compared with non-Hispanic White individuals.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Hearing loss status was self-reported from device use and functional hearing questions, not audiometry. The self-reported hearing loss prevalence was lower than audiometry-based estimates, so some people with hearing loss may have been missed. Proxy respondents were included, and the authors note possible errors in proxy reporting of hearing impairment or device use. The survey captured one 2020 point in time and did not compare hearing care before, during, and after the pandemic. The questionnaire asked only about delayed hearing appointments, not what type of appointment or which hearing professional was involved. The study could not clearly separate provider-initiated delay from participant-initiated delay for hearing healthcare. Education and race/ethnicity were confounded, and minority groups had small samples, making adjusted associations hard to interpret.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial or other conflicts of interest. The paper is listed as NIH intramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these findings as proof that the pandemic caused hearing care delays. The study used a single 2020 supplemental survey, did not compare before, during, and after care, and relied on self-reported hearing loss and delayed appointments.