학술논문
Association between hearing loss and deprivation among Welsh adults: a cross-sectional observational study
Document Type
article
Author
Source
BMJ Open, Vol 13, Iss 5 (2023)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
2044-6055
Abstract
Objective To index levels of hearing loss with respect to area-level indices of deprivation in a Welsh population.Design A cross-sectional observational study of all adults (aged >18) that attended Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University (ABMU) Health Board audiology services between 2016 and 2018. Service access, first hearing aid fitting appointment rates and hearing loss at time of first hearing aid provision were used to index population hearing loss versus area-level indices of deprivation based on patient postcode.Setting Primary and secondary care.Participants 59 493 patient entries met the inclusion criteria. Patient entries were grouped by age (18–30, 31–40, 41–50, 51–60, 61–70, 71–80, >80 years) and deprivation decile.Results The interaction between age group and deprivation decile predicted access rate to ABMU audiology services (b=−0.24, t(6858) = −2.86, p80 years. First hearing aid fitting rates were highest among the most deprived in the four youngest age groups (p