Hearing aid use associated with lower likelihood of hospitalization, emergency department visit

Bottom Line: Older adults with hearing loss who used hearing aids were less likely to be hospitalized or have an emergency department visit and they had lower total Medicare costs, although their out-of-pocket health care expenses were higher.

Why The Research Is Interesting: Hearing loss is estimated to affect two-thirds of adults older than 70 years and is associated with worse communication with health care professionals, which can adversely affect health outcomes. Hearing aids, while helpful, are not covered by Medicare.

Who and When: Data for 1,336 adults 65 years or older with hearing loss from 2013-2014

What (Study Measures): Use of a hearing aid (exposure); total health care, Medicare, and out-of-pocket spending; any emergency department (ED), inpatient, and office visit; and number of ED visits, nights in hospital, and office visits (outcomes)

How (Study Design): This was an observational study. Researchers were not intervening for purposes of the study and cannot control all the natural differences that could explain the study findings.

Authors: Elham Mahmoudi, Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and coauthors

Study Limitations: Study data were from a self­-reported survey and researchers had no objective measure of individual hearing loss; researchers also could not control for the type and number of hearing aids people reported using or how consistently they were used

Related material: The commentary, "Hearing Aid Use and Health Care Costs Among Older Adult," by Margaret I. Wallhagen, Ph.D., G.N.P.-B.C., University of California, San Francisco is also available on the For The Media website.

For more details and to read the full study, please visit the For The Media website.

(doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2018.0273)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

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