Self-Reported Hearing Loss in Older Adults Is Associated With Higher Emergency Department Visits and Medical Costs

Hearing loss is common among older adults. Thus, it was of interest to explore differences in health care utilization and costs associated with hearing loss and hearing aid use. Hearing loss and hearing aid use were assessed through self-reports and included 5 categories: no hearing loss, aided mild...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Inquiry (Chicago) 2019, Vol.56, p.1-8
Main Authors: Wells, Timothy S., Wu, Lizi, Bhattarai, Gandhi R., Nickels, Lorraine D., Rush, Steven R., Yeh, Charlotte S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Costs
Cross-sectional studies
Deafness
Drug use
Emergency medical care
Exercise
Expenditures
Health care expenditures
Health care policy
Health services utilization
Hearing
Hearing aids
Hearing loss
Hearing protection
Hospitalization
Insurance coverage
Loneliness
Medicare
Memory
Older people
Original Research
Physical fitness
Postal codes
Prescription drugs
Primary care
Self report
Sensitivity analysis
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Summary:Hearing loss is common among older adults. Thus, it was of interest to explore differences in health care utilization and costs associated with hearing loss and hearing aid use. Hearing loss and hearing aid use were assessed through self-reports and included 5 categories: no hearing loss, aided mild, unaided mild, aided severe, and unaided severe hearing loss. Health care utilization and costs were obtained from medical claims. Those with aided mild or severe hearing loss were significantly more likely to have an emergency department visit. Conversely, those with aided severe hearing loss were about 15% less likely to be hospitalized. Individuals with unaided severe hearing loss had the highest annual medical costs ($14349) compared with those with no hearing loss ($12118, P < .001). In this study, those with unaided severe hearing loss had the highest medical costs. Further studies should attempt to better understand the relationship between hearing loss, hearing aid use, and medical costs.
ISSN:0046-9580
1945-7243
DOI:10.1177/0046958019896907