An Exploration of the Associations among Hearing Loss, Physical Health, and Visual Memory in Adults from West Central Alabama

Autor/inn/en	Hay-McCutcheon, Marcia J.; Hyams, Adriana; Yang, Xin; Parton, Jason; Panasiuk, Brianna; Ondocsin, Sarah; James, Mary Margaret; Scogin, Forrest
Titel	An Exploration of the Associations among Hearing Loss, Physical Health, and Visual Memory in Adults from West Central Alabama
Quelle	In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60 (2017) 8, S.2346-2359 (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1092-4388
DOI	10.1044/2017_JSLHR-H-16-0369
Schlagwörter	Adults; Hearing Impairments; Physical Health; Memory; Visual Perception; Correlation; Rural Areas; Urban Areas; Rural Urban Differences; Short Term Memory; Alabama + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Hearing impairment; Hörbehinderung; Gesundheitszustand; Gedächtnis; Visuelle Wahrnehmung; Korrelation; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Urban area; Stadtregion; Stadt-Land-Beziehung; Kurzzeitgedächtnis
Abstract	Purpose: The purpose of this preliminary study was to explore the associations among hearing loss, physical health, and visual memory in adults living in rural areas, urban clusters, and an urban city in west Central Alabama. Method: Two hundred ninety-seven adults (182 women, 115 men) from rural areas, urban clusters, and an urban city of west Central Alabama completed a hearing assessment, a physical health questionnaire, a hearing handicap measure, and a visual memory test. Results: A greater number of adults with hearing loss lived in rural areas and urban clusters than in an urban area. In addition, poorer physical health was significantly associated with hearing loss. A greater number of individuals with poor physical health who lived in rural towns and urban clusters had hearing loss compared with the adults with other physical health issues who lived in an urban city. Poorer hearing sensitivity resulted in poorer outcomes on the Emotional and Social subscales of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults. And last, visual memory, a working-memory task, was not associated with hearing loss but was associated with educational level. Conclusions: The outcomes suggest that hearing loss is associated with poor physical and emotional health but not with visual-memory skills. A greater number of adults living in rural areas experienced hearing loss compared with adults living in an urban city, and consequently, further research will be necessary to confirm this relationship and to explore the reasons behind it. Also, further exploration of the relationship between cognition and hearing loss in adults living in rural and urban areas will be needed. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01