Effects of hearing impairment on use of health services among the elderly
Effects of hearing impairment on use of health services among the elderly
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DOI：
10.1177/089826430101300301
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发表时间：
2001-08-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Pope, CR
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Green, CA;Pope, CR
目标：评估听力障碍对老年人群卫生服务使用的影响，控制已知影响利用的与听力困难相关的因素。方法：在分层回归程序中使用听力障碍、抑郁症和慢性病的诊断来预测 1,436 名随机选择的 65 岁健康维护组织成员中任何服务使用的数量和概率。结果：听力障碍大大增加了至少去看一次医疗保健提供者的可能性（OR = 3.31,95%；CI = 1.55-7.06）。然而，在进行此类访问的人中，听力障碍并没有导致使用额外的服务，尽管与预期相反。讨论：进一步的研究应该探讨是否存在服务利用不足的情况，如果存在，是否源于临床医生或患者对听力损伤严重性的态度，是否源于可用治疗策略的缺乏，或者源于这些因素和其他因素的某种组合。
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.