Objective: We investigated use of hearing care among US veterans and explore motivations, barriers, and adherence to hearing healthcare.
Study Design: Cross-sectional online survey.
Setting: US Veterans.
Methods: This cross-sectional, online survey-based study included 287 respondents who identified themselves as veterans on ResearchMatch (NIH-sponsored national registry of research volunteers). Questions regarding hearing loss, tinnitus, use of hearing care, and facilitators/barriers to hearing care were asked. Descriptive statistics were utilized for data analysis.
Results: In this cohort, the rate of self-reported hearing loss and tinnitus were 61.0% and 74.2%, respectively. Among these, 66.9% of those with hearing loss and 36.2% of those with tinnitus reported seeking hearing care. Most important motivators of seeking hearing care (average on 1-5 Likert scale) included personal importance of hearing (4.0; SD = 1.1), difficulty hearing others (3.6; SD = 1.1), and degree of hearing loss (3.3; SD = 1.1). Most common barriers included uncertainty regarding who to reach out to for hearing care (42.9%), inability to get time off work (34.3%), and nervousness about seeing a provider (28.6%). Common reasons to decline hearing aids reporting that hearing was not bad enough for hearing aids (72.2%) and included inability to afford hearing aid (55.6%).
Conclusion: In this cohort, many US veterans sought care for hearing loss, though barriers still exist, including uncertainty regarding how to access appropriate care, being too far from a provider, and challenges with cost. Future studies should investigate methods to alleviate these internal and external barriers to hearing care and emphasize the importance of motivators for seeking care.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11714147 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oto2.70055 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) admissions can be traumatic for critically ill, ventilated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients due to fear of death, an inability to verbally communicate, reliance on health care professionals, and invasive medical interventions. Adult ARDS patients hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic were strictly isolated and had limited to no visitation from loved ones, impacting their access to support systems.
Objective: To explore the memories and sensory triggers for them (if applicable) of adult ARDS survivors hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hearing Loss in COVID-19 Patients: An Audiological Profile of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic COVID-19 Patients in Qatar.
Cureus
December 2024
Geriatrics and Long-Term Care, Rumailah Hospital - Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, QAT.
Background and objective Viral infections caused by cytomegalovirus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, varicella-zoster virus, herpes simplex type 1 and type 2, rubella, measles, rubeola, HIV, West Nile virus, Lassa virus, and mumps are known to be associated with hearing loss. There have been reports of inner ear involvement in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients but the extent and variations in cochlear involvement of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients has not been adequately described. This study aimed to evaluate the hearing status among symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients to address the prospects for routine screening for hearing loss in COVID-19 patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSign Language Recognition System for Deaf Patients: Protocol for a Systematic Review.
JMIR Res Protoc
January 2025
Department of Computer Science, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Background: Individuals with hearing impairments may face hindrances in health care assistance, which may significantly impact the prognosis and the incidence of complications and iatrogenic events. Therefore, the development of automatic communication systems to assist the interaction between this population and health care workers is paramount.
Objective: This study aims to systematically review the evidence on communication systems using human-computer interaction techniques developed for deaf people who communicate through sign language that are already in use or proposed for use in health care contexts and have been tested with human users or videos of human users.
Association of Self-Recognition of Hearing Loss With Hospitalizations in Older Adults in the United States.
Med Care
January 2025
Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
Background: Hearing loss is highly prevalent and associated with increased health care utilization. Recognition of hearing loss may play an important role in self-advocacy in difficult communication situations and prevent negative outcomes.
Objectives: To investigate the associations between self-recognition of hearing loss and hospitalization outcomes.
Scala tympani drill-out technique for oval window atresia with malformed facial nerve:update.
Acta Otolaryngol
January 2025
Department of Otomicrosurgery, Sixth Medical Center of The PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
Background: In some rare cases of congenital aplasia of the oval window (OW), malformed facial nerve (FN) locations covering the most or entire OW present a challenge to hearing reconstruction, there is no a highly effective surgical hearing reconstruction methods.
Aims/objectives: To update a Scala tympani drill-out technique (SDT) for abnormal FN course covering the OW.
Material And Methods: All patients of congenital atresia of the OW was recruited between August 2014 and July 2023 in a tertiary-care center.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!