Hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: Findings from the crossroads study
Context: Rural residents can be exposed to high levels of agricultural machinery noise and are at risk of hearing loss. Aims: This study aimed to determine audiology service use and rates of hearing loss in a regional area of Australia, using both self-report and audiology testing. Setting and Desig...
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doaj-fcca3b730d0d415ba5b6fe7ffe6d04fb2020-11-25T03:23:07ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsNoise and Health1463-17411998-40302019-01-012110221722210.4103/nah.NAH_5_18Hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: Findings from the crossroads studyKristen M GlenisterDavid SimmonsContext: Rural residents can be exposed to high levels of agricultural machinery noise and are at risk of hearing loss. Aims: This study aimed to determine audiology service use and rates of hearing loss in a regional area of Australia, using both self-report and audiology testing. Setting and Design: A survey of randomly selected households was undertaken and 6432 participants were interviewed face to face about their health, hearing, and use of audiology services. A total of 1454 participants were randomly selected to undertake standard audiology testing. Material and Methods: Material Hearing was evaluated using conventional audiometry. Statistical Analysis Used: Independent t-tests, cChi-squared tests, and logistic regression were used to examine the association amongbetween hearing loss, use of audiology services, and demographic factors. Results: Hearing issues were present in 12.5% of the survey participants. The rate of hearing loss increased significantly with age. Males were significantly more likely to have hearing loss than females (9.5% vs. 5.2%, pP << 0.01). The majority of people who reported accessing audiology services in the past 12 months were satisfied with the care they received (85.2%), and experienced short waiting times for these services (68.2% waited ≤≤ 7 days). Conclusions: Males had higher rates of hearing issues than females in this rural area. Audiology services in the region were accessible within short waiting times, and clients were satisfied with the service.http://www.noiseandhealth.org/article.asp?issn=1463-1741;year=2019;volume=21;issue=102;spage=217;epage=222;aulast=Glenister(3–6): haudiologyaustraliahearing lossregionalruralhearing lossaudiologyruralregionalaustralia |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kristen M Glenister David Simmons |
spellingShingle |
Kristen M Glenister David Simmons Hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: Findings from the crossroads study Noise and Health (3–6): haudiology australia hearing loss regional ruralhearing loss audiology rural regional australia |
author_facet |
Kristen M Glenister David Simmons |
author_sort |
Kristen M Glenister |
title |
Hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: Findings from the crossroads study |
title_short |
Hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: Findings from the crossroads study |
title_full |
Hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: Findings from the crossroads study |
title_fullStr |
Hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: Findings from the crossroads study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: Findings from the crossroads study |
title_sort |
hearing loss and access to audiology services in rural victoria: findings from the crossroads study |
publisher |
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
series |
Noise and Health |
issn |
1463-1741 1998-4030 |
publishDate |
2019-01-01 |
description |
Context: Rural residents can be exposed to high levels of agricultural machinery noise and are at risk of hearing loss. Aims: This study aimed to determine audiology service use and rates of hearing loss in a regional area of Australia, using both self-report and audiology testing. Setting and Design: A survey of randomly selected households was undertaken and 6432 participants were interviewed face to face about their health, hearing, and use of audiology services. A total of 1454 participants were randomly selected to undertake standard audiology testing. Material and Methods: Material Hearing was evaluated using conventional audiometry. Statistical Analysis Used: Independent t-tests, cChi-squared tests, and logistic regression were used to examine the association amongbetween hearing loss, use of audiology services, and demographic factors. Results: Hearing issues were present in 12.5% of the survey participants. The rate of hearing loss increased significantly with age. Males were significantly more likely to have hearing loss than females (9.5% vs. 5.2%, pP << 0.01). The majority of people who reported accessing audiology services in the past 12 months were satisfied with the care they received (85.2%), and experienced short waiting times for these services (68.2% waited ≤≤ 7 days). Conclusions: Males had higher rates of hearing issues than females in this rural area. Audiology services in the region were accessible within short waiting times, and clients were satisfied with the service. |
topic |
(3–6): haudiology australia hearing loss regional ruralhearing loss audiology rural regional australia |
url |
http://www.noiseandhealth.org/article.asp?issn=1463-1741;year=2019;volume=21;issue=102;spage=217;epage=222;aulast=Glenister |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT kristenmglenister hearinglossandaccesstoaudiologyservicesinruralvictoriafindingsfromthecrossroadsstudy AT davidsimmons hearinglossandaccesstoaudiologyservicesinruralvictoriafindingsfromthecrossroadsstudy |
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