Effects of hearing impairment on use of health services among the elderly

Objectives: To assess the effects of hearing impairment on health-service use in an elderly population, controlling for factors associated with hearing difficulties known to affect utilization. Methods: Diagnoses of hearing impairment, depression, and chronic illnesses were used in hierarchical regression procedures to predict the volume and probability of any service use among 1,436 randomly selected 65-year-old health maintenance organization members. Results: Hearing impairment substantially increased the likelihood of making at least one visit to a health care provider (OR = 3.31,95%; CI = 1.55-7.06). Among those who made such visits, however, hearing impairment did not lead to use of additional services despite expectations to the contrary. Discussion: Further research should explore whether underutilization of services exists, and, if so, whether it stems from clinician or patient attitudes about the seriousness of hearing impairment, from a paucity of available treatment strategies, or from some combination of these and other factors.