Thursday, June 09, 2016

Middle-aged adults with hearing loss have substantially higher health care costs

Much hearing loss comes from exposure to loud noise.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/tjnj-maw040616.php

Public Release: 7-Apr-2016
Middle-aged adults with hearing loss have substantially higher health care costs
The JAMA Network Journals

In a study published online by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Annie N. Simpson, Ph.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and colleagues compared the costs of health care for a matched group of privately insured individuals with and without a diagnosis of hearing loss.

Age-related hearing loss affects more than 60 percent of U.S. adults older than 70 years; the onset is gradual, with prevalence tripling from the age of 50 years to 60 years. However, the association between hearing loss in older middle-aged adults (age 55-64 years) and the use of health care has not been studied.

•••••

The authors found that individuals with a diagnosis of hearing loss had 33 percent higher health care payments (average, $14,165) during a 1.5-year time period compared to patients without hearing loss (average, $10,629). "This finding indicates that negative health-related effects of hearing loss, a condition that many consider simply an unavoidable result of aging, may manifest earlier than is generally recognized and may affect use of health care across the continuum of care.

•••••

No comments:

Post a Comment