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Association of socioeconomic status with hearing loss in Chinese working-aged adults: A population-based study
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 3, p e0195227 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2018.
-
Abstract
- Hearing loss is the most common sensory impairment, but limited studies focused on the association of socioeconomic status (SES) with hearing loss among adults of working age. This paper aimed to fill this gap among Chinese adults. We obtained data from Ear and Hearing Disorder Survey conducted in four provinces of China in 2014-2015. The survey was based on WHO Ear and Hearing Disorders Survey Protocol and 25,860 adults aged 25 to 59 years were selected in this study. Trained local examiners performed pure tone audiometry to screen people with hearing loss, and those who were screened positively for hearing loss were referred to audiologists to make final diagnosis. SES was measured by occupation, education and income. Results show after adjusting for SES measures and covariates, in urban areas, compared with white-collar workers, blue-collar workers and the unemployed were more likely to have hearing loss, with an odds ratio of 1.2 (95%CI: 1.0, 1.3) and 1.2 (95%CI: 1.0, 1.4), respectively. Compared with people with education of senior high school or above, those with junior high school, primary school and illiteracy had 1.6 (95%CI: 1.4, 1.8), 2.1(95%CI: 1.7, 2.5) and 2.6 (95%CI: 1.9, 3.7) times as likely to have hearing loss, respectively. In rural areas, the unemployed had 1.5 (95%CI: 1.0, 2.3) times the risk of hearing loss compared with white-collar workers, and illiterates had 1.6 (95%CI: 1.6, 2.1) times the risk of hearing loss compared with people with education of senior high school or above, after SES variables and covariates were taken into considerations. Income was not significantly associated with hearing loss in urban and rural areas. In conclusion, SES, in the form of occupation and education, was associated with hearing loss among working-aged population, and further studies are needed to explore the mechanism of such association.
- Subjects :
- Male
lcsh:Medicine
Social Sciences
Otology
Deafness
0302 clinical medicine
Sociology
Risk Factors
Prevalence
Medicine and Health Sciences
030212 general & internal medicine
lcsh:Science
Hearing Disorders
Geographic Areas
education.field_of_study
Schools
Multidisciplinary
Geography
medicine.diagnostic_test
Audiology
Middle Aged
Professions
Hearing disorder
Income
Female
Pure tone audiometry
Anatomy
medicine.symptom
0305 other medical science
Research Article
Urban Areas
Adult
China
Hearing loss
Population
Social class
Education
03 medical and health sciences
otorhinolaryngologic diseases
medicine
Humans
Occupations
Hearing Loss
education
Socioeconomic status
Aged
030505 public health
business.industry
lcsh:R
Biology and Life Sciences
Odds ratio
Rural Areas
Social Class
Otorhinolaryngology
Unemployment
Ears
People and Places
Earth Sciences
lcsh:Q
Population Groupings
Rural area
business
Head
Demography
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 13
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLOS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....f89a61006c5fdbd630164f2c1edfb950