Educational Disparities in Age-Related Hearing Loss and Hearing Aid Use Across Age, Gender, and European Region.

IF 4.8 2区医学 Q1 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Pub Date : 2025-02-10 DOI:10.1093/geronb/gbae202

Donata Stonkute, Yana Vierboom

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives: Affecting 1 in 5 adults in Europe, hearing loss (HL) is linked to adverse health outcomes, including dementia. We aim to investigate educational inequalities in hearing health in Europe and how these inequalities change with age, gender, and region.

Methods: Utilizing 2004-2020 data from the Harmonized Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a representative sample of Europeans aged 50 and older, we analyze: (1) age-standardized prevalence of HL and hearing aid (HA) use among eligible individuals and (2) educational inequalities therein using the Relative Index of Inequality across age, gender, and European regions.

Results: The prevalence of self-reported HL increases with age, is greater among men, and is consistently higher among those with lower levels of education. At age 50-64, particularly in Southern and Eastern Europe, low-educated women experience more than 3 times the risk of HL compared to highly educated women. These inequalities diminish as women age. Northern Europe is a front-runner in meeting HA needs. Southern and Eastern Europe lag behind, with less than 2 in 10 individuals eligible for HAs utilizing them.

Discussion: Substantial variations in the educational gradient of hearing health across age, gender, and European regions underscore the importance of targeting specific subpopulations in efforts to mitigate health inequalities. Of particular concern is the regional discrepancy between the prevalence of HL and the use of HAs. The example of Northern Europe suggests that there is unused potential to improve healthy aging in Europe through enhanced access to HAs.

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年龄相关性听力损失和助听器使用在不同年龄、性别和欧洲地区的教育差异。

目的：听力损失（HL）影响着欧洲五分之一的成年人，与包括痴呆在内的不良健康结果有关。我们的目的是调查欧洲听力健康方面的教育不平等，以及这些不平等如何随着年龄、性别和地区而变化。方法：利用欧洲健康、老龄化和退休协调调查（SHARE） 2004-2020年的数据，我们分析了50岁及以上欧洲人的代表性样本：1)符合条件的个人中HL和助听器（HA）使用的年龄标准化患病率；(2)利用相对不平等指数（Relative Index of Inequality， RII）分析不同年龄、性别和欧洲地区的教育不平等。结果：自我报告的HL患病率随着年龄的增长而增加，在男性中更高，在教育水平较低的人群中一直较高。在50-64岁年龄段，特别是在南欧和东欧，受教育程度低的女性患HL的风险是受教育程度高的女性的三倍多。这些不平等随着女性年龄的增长而减少。北欧是满足医管局需求的领跑者。南欧和东欧落后了，只有不到十分之二的人有资格使用HAs。讨论：听力健康的教育梯度在不同年龄、性别和欧洲地区的巨大差异强调了在减轻健康不平等的努力中针对特定亚人群的重要性。特别值得关注的是HL患病率和ha使用之间的区域差异。北欧的例子表明，通过增加获得保健服务的机会来改善欧洲健康老龄化的潜力尚未得到利用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 医学-老年医学

CiteScore

11.60

自引率

8.10%

发文量

178

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences publishes articles on development in adulthood and old age that advance the psychological science of aging processes and outcomes. Articles have clear implications for theoretical or methodological innovation in the psychology of aging or contribute significantly to the empirical understanding of psychological processes and aging. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, attitudes, clinical applications, cognition, education, emotion, health, human factors, interpersonal relations, neuropsychology, perception, personality, physiological psychology, social psychology, and sensation.