Prevalence of Hearing Impairment among Elderly at Six Communities in Maha Sarakham Province

บทคัดย่อ

Hearing loss is a common problem in the elderly. It can cause physical, psychological and social problems. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of hearing loss in people over 60 years old, who live in six communities in Mahasarakham Province, and then describe the requirements of the hearing impaired in the elderly. 111 participants from 6 communities ; Takasila, Srisawad1-3, Patchimtat1-2 were recruited. The result showed that 71.2 % of the participants have hearing loss. The biggest catagory of hearing impaired was both hearing handicap and hearing rehabilitation (44.4%). The odds ratio of hearing loss were greater for men than women (OR = 3.05 , 95%CI 1.08-8.57) However, underlying disease and history of noise exposure were not found to be a strong predictive factor for abnormal hearing (p > 0.05) The result from this study can be further applied to improve elderly’s care in Thailand.