PREVALENCE OF HEARING IMPAIRMENT AND HEARING COMPLAINTS IN OLDER ADULTS - A STUDY IN GENERAL-PRACTICE

In one general practice, 660 people aged 60 years or over were screene d by means of pure tone audiometry and a specific questionnaire to ass ess the prevalence of hearing impairment and hearing complaints. Heari ng impairment was defined as an average loss of 35 dB or more in the 1 , 2 and 4 kHz frequencies in one or both ears. In total, 37.4% (95% Cl , 33.3-41.1%) of the participants was hearing impaired. The prevalence was higher in men (55.1%) than in women (44.9%) and clearly increased with age in both sexes. The prevalence of hearing complaints in terms of hearing difficulties and/or tinnitus, was 37.3% (95% Cl, 33.6-41.0 %), and increased with age, especially in women. Of the subjects with hearing impairment, 64.4% reported hearing complaints. Of the subjects without hearing impairment, 21.1% experienced hearing complaints. Thi s study suggests that screening older adults with relatively simple me thods, may identify a large proportion of men and women in general pra ctice with hearing problems. Providing information to both patients an d general practitioners about the possibilities of hearing improvement is a crucial step in making people become more aware of hearing probl ems. This could ultimately lead to improvement of the quality of life of older men and women with hearing problems.