The leaky pipeline of hearing care: primary to secondary care evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)
The leaky pipeline of hearing care: primary to secondary care evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)
Objective: the proportions of older adults’ transitions through acknowledging their hearing loss to getting access to treatment are unknown. This was examined using data from a nationally representative cohort in England.
Design: patient and healthcare factors associated with referrals were examined cross-sectionally, through primary to secondary care. Non-report predictors identified using multiple logistic regression models.
Study sample: 8529 adults with hearing data in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Wave 7.
Results: nearly 40% of those with acknowledged hearing loss did not tell a doctor or nurse (n = 857/2249). Women (OR 2.68, 95% CI 2.14–2.98), retirees (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.17–1.44), those with foreign education (OR 2.74, 95% CI 2.47–3.04), lower education (OR 2.86, 95% CI 2.58–3.18), smokers (OR 4.39, 95% CI 3.95–4.87), and heavy drinkers (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.58–1.85) were more likely to not report hearing loss. Of those who acknowledged and reported hearing difficulties, willingness to try hearing aid(s) was high (78.9%).
Conclusions: unacknowledged, or acknowledged but not reported hearing loss by individuals, and non-referrals by primary healthcare professionals, are barriers to accessing hearing healthcare. Future research should report hearing aid use as the proportion of individuals who acknowledge their hearing loss, to avoid an overestimation of the non-use of hearing aids within study samples.
clinical communication, hearing aids, Help-seeking, patient safety, primary care
Tsimpida, Dialechti
2fff4517-3c8e-445b-8646-7f645fa36b0a
Rajasingam, Saima
1344a76f-f023-4328-99a4-6a76b466ef9b
Panagioti, Maria
e6203164-fc28-408c-8219-66b21540f044
Henshaw, Helen
9e876683-d7da-4908-9039-1031d6a8526f
23 March 2023
Tsimpida, Dialechti
2fff4517-3c8e-445b-8646-7f645fa36b0a
Rajasingam, Saima
1344a76f-f023-4328-99a4-6a76b466ef9b
Panagioti, Maria
e6203164-fc28-408c-8219-66b21540f044
Henshaw, Helen
9e876683-d7da-4908-9039-1031d6a8526f
Tsimpida, Dialechti, Rajasingam, Saima, Panagioti, Maria and Henshaw, Helen
(2023)
The leaky pipeline of hearing care: primary to secondary care evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
International Journal of Audiology.
(doi:10.1080/14992027.2023.2186814).
Abstract
Objective: the proportions of older adults’ transitions through acknowledging their hearing loss to getting access to treatment are unknown. This was examined using data from a nationally representative cohort in England.
Design: patient and healthcare factors associated with referrals were examined cross-sectionally, through primary to secondary care. Non-report predictors identified using multiple logistic regression models.
Study sample: 8529 adults with hearing data in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Wave 7.
Results: nearly 40% of those with acknowledged hearing loss did not tell a doctor or nurse (n = 857/2249). Women (OR 2.68, 95% CI 2.14–2.98), retirees (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.17–1.44), those with foreign education (OR 2.74, 95% CI 2.47–3.04), lower education (OR 2.86, 95% CI 2.58–3.18), smokers (OR 4.39, 95% CI 3.95–4.87), and heavy drinkers (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.58–1.85) were more likely to not report hearing loss. Of those who acknowledged and reported hearing difficulties, willingness to try hearing aid(s) was high (78.9%).
Conclusions: unacknowledged, or acknowledged but not reported hearing loss by individuals, and non-referrals by primary healthcare professionals, are barriers to accessing hearing healthcare. Future research should report hearing aid use as the proportion of individuals who acknowledge their hearing loss, to avoid an overestimation of the non-use of hearing aids within study samples.
Text
The leaky pipeline of hearing care primary to secondary care evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing ELSA
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Accepted/In Press date: 28 February 2023
Published date: 23 March 2023
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of British Society of Audiology, International Society of Audiology, and Nordic Audiological Society.
Keywords:
clinical communication, hearing aids, Help-seeking, patient safety, primary care
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 482444
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/482444
ISSN: 1499-2027
PURE UUID: 6244d08c-6630-4561-8731-ffb4ee012020
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Date deposited: 04 Oct 2023 16:36
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:15
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Contributors
Author:
Dialechti Tsimpida
Author:
Saima Rajasingam
Author:
Maria Panagioti
Author:
Helen Henshaw
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