Differences seen across race, ethnicities, and neighborhood disadvantage<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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TUESDAY, Oct. 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Race and ethnicity and neighborhood disadvantage are associated with hearing-related quality of life (QOL) in deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) children, according to a research letter published online Oct. 30 in\u00a0JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Brooke R. Warren, from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues assessed differences in hearing QOL across diverse DHH populations. The analysis included 299 patients (aged 7 to 18 years) with permanent hearing loss seen at a tertiary care center from 2014 to 2022.<\/p>\n The researchers found that pure tone average (PTA) had an inverse association with the Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life (HEAR-QL) score, with less hearing loss associated with a higher HEAR-QL score. There was an association observed between non-Hispanic White race and ethnicity and a lower HEAR-QL score, even when accounting for all sociodemographic and clinical covariates. In contrast, non-Hispanic Asian race and ethnicity was associated with higher HEAR-QL scores. There was a negative association noted between area deprivation index (ADI) ranking and quality of life. Patients with greater socioeconomic disadvantage were significantly more likely to have a lower HEAR-QL score. For patients aged 7 to 12 years, the total HEAR-QL score was not significantly associated with ADI, while for patients aged 13 to 18 years, high ADI was significantly associated with a low total HEAR-QL score.<\/p>\n “Future studies should elucidate these modifiable factors to enable multidisciplinary health care teams to provide more tailored hearing loss care and improve QOL in DHH children,” the authors write.<\/p>\n