ArticleBMC geriatrics2016
Hearing loss and use of health services: a population-based cross-sectional study among Finnish older adults.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Psychological well-being and mental health risks in deaf and hard of hearing youth: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring the barriers and facilitators to effective communication with people with age-related hearing loss in community pharmacy settings.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Health service use, health outcomes and treatment costs of adults with a cochlear implant: a retrospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- An Overview of Dentist-Patient Communication in Quality Dental Care.Dentistry journal · 2025Review
- Associations between hearing loss and clinical outcomes: population-based cohort study.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Near Vision but not Hearing Loss is Associated with Lacking a Usual Source of Health Care.Journal of aging and health · 2021Article
- Medicare Beneficiaries With Self-Reported Functional Hearing Difficulty Have Unmet Health Care Needs.Health affairs (Project Hope) · 2021Article
- Preventive Care Utilization among Adults with Hearing Loss in the United States.Seminars in hearing · 2021Review
- Limited Health Literacy and Hearing Loss Among Older Adults.Health literacy research and practice · 2020Article
- Hearing in Real-Life Environments (HERE): Structure and Reliability of a Questionnaire on Perceived Hearing for Older Adults.Ear and hearingArticle
- Self-Reported Hearing Loss in Older Adults Is Associated With Higher Emergency Department Visits and Medical Costs.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingArticle
- Communication and Healthcare: Self-Reports of People with Hearing Loss in Primary Care Settings.Clinical gerontologistArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOlder 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.
methodsData 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.
resultsAfter 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 non-impaired 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).
conclusionsOlder 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.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.