Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38982237›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2024

Characteristics of emergency department visits among older adults with hearing difficultly during the COVID19 pandemic in the US.

Juebo Yu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Juebo YuDepartment of Otolaryngology, Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, No. 45 Taizhou Rd, Guangling District, Yangzhou, 225001, China. yujuebo2004@163.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hearing difficulty (HD) may be associated with an increased frequency of emergency department (ED) visits among older adults. The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the health of older adults. However, less is known about the characteristics of ED visits by older adults with HD during the pandemic. This study examines the association between self-reported HD severity and ED visits during the pandemic. This population-based cross-sectional study used self-reported data on HD and the characteristics of respondents aged 65 years or older from three cycles of the National Health Interview Survey from 2020 to 2022. Data were analysed from February 23, 2023, to March 22, 2023. The primary outcome was self-reported ED visits in the past 12 months. This study employed generalised linear models to examine the relationship between ED visits (dependent variable) and HD in older adults, and the effect sizes were expressed as rate ratios. Key independent variables included the reasons for ED visit. Covariates such as demographic characteristics and socio-economic status were controlled for to account for potential confounding effects. During the pandemic, older adults with HD commonly visited the ED because of chronic pain (82.8%), frailty (77.9%), trouble falling/staying asleep (73.2%), hypertension (67.4%), and arthritis (60.1%), all of which were 1.5-times more likely in these adults than in those with normal hearing (chronic pain: adjusted rate ratio [ARR], 1.64 [95% CI 1.44-1.93]; frailty: ARR, 1.57 [95% CI 1.16-1.87]; trouble falling/staying asleep: ARR, 1.51 [95% CI 1.21-1.82]; hypertension: ARR, 1.01 [95% CI 0.92-1.23]; arthritis: ARR, 1.39 [95% CI 1.31-1.57]. Older adults with HD were more likely to visit the ED for chronic pain, frailty, trouble falling/staying asleep, hypertension, and arthritis than those with normal hearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings will be help for healthcare providers to be aware of these potential barriers and to implement strategies to ensure that patients with hearing difficulties can access necessary emergency care effectively.

Indexed as

COVID-19Emergency Service, HospitalAgedAged, 80 and overCross-Sectional StudiesEmergency Room VisitsFemaleHearing LossHumansMalePandemicsSARS-CoV-2United StatesEmergency departmentHearing difficultlyOlder adults

Identifiers

PMID38982237
PMCPMC11233512

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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.