Hearing loss, mental well-being and healthcare use: Results from the Health Survey for England (HSE)

Grainne E. Crealey, Ciaran O'Neill

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Hearing loss (HL) affects an estimated 17% of adults in Britain, 19% in Canada and 16% in the USA. Evidence points to the impact of HL on aspects of physical and mental health as well as autonomy, cognition, memory and social isolation. This suggests the relationship between HL and service use may arise indirectly as well as directly, an issue that warrants investigation Methods: We used data from Health Survey for England (2014) on objectively and subjectively measured HL, mental and physical health as well as aspects of well-being related to autonomy, cognition, memory and social isolation within a series of bivariate probit models to examine the relationship between health and GP use in the past two weeks. Data for between ~3000 and 1700 individuals were examined Results: A significant correlation in errors was found in each aspect of well-being demonstrating the appropriateness of the bivariate model. In three of the six regressions (concentration, memory and GHQ score) wearing a hearing aid (in some age groups) attenuated the impact of HL on outcome (relative to being younger or not wearing a hearing aid). Conclusions: While HL did not directly predict use of GP services, it consistently predicted aspects of cognition, autonomy, mobility and memory found to predict service use.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)77-89
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Public Health (United Kingdom)
Volume42
Issue number1
Early online date27 Nov 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01 Mar 2020

Keywords

  • ear disorders
  • mental health
  • public health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Hearing loss, mental well-being and healthcare use: Results from the Health Survey for England (HSE)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this