Open AccessHearing loss and hearing aid use in Hispanic adults: results from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Author(s) -
D. J. Lee,
Dawn Carlson,
H. M. Lee,
L. Ray,
Kyriakos S. Markides
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.81.11.1471
Subject(s) - hearing loss , national health and nutrition examination survey , medicine , mexican americans , gerontology , hearing aid , puerto rican , audiology , demography , ethnic group , environmental health , population , sociology , anthropology
Data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were employed to investigate the prevalence of hearing loss and hearing aid use in Mexican-American, Cuban-American, and Puerto Rican adults. Hearing loss was 6 to 14 times more prevalent in older (ages 54 to 74) vs younger (ages 20 through 34) subjects. Cuban Americans and Mexican Americans tended to have a similar prevalence of hearing loss, whereas Puerto Ricans had markedly lower rates. Mexican-American men had higher rates of hearing loss than Mexican-American women. The prevalence of hearing aid use among hearing-impaired individuals ranged from 2% to 11%. Implications for future research are discussed.