Clin Exp Otorhinolaryngol.  2021 Aug;14(3):278-286. 10.21053/ceo.2021.00325.

Hearing Impairment Increases Economic Inequality

• Kim SY
• Min C
• Yoo DM
• Chang J
• Lee HJ
• Park B
• Choi HG

• KMID: 2519182
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.21053/ceo.2021.00325

Abstract

Objectives
. We evaluated changes in income levels in a hearing-impaired population.
Methods
. The study subjects were selected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort data from 2002 to 2015 of Koreans ≥40 years old. In total, 5,857 hearing-impaired subjects were matched with 23,428 comparison participants. Differences between the initial income level and income levels at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years post-enrollment were compared between the hearing-impaired and comparison groups. The interaction of time and hearing impairment/comparison was estimated.
Results
. Both the hearing-impaired group and the comparison group showed increased income levels over time. In the hearing-impaired group, the income levels at 4 and 5 years post-enrollment were higher than the initial income level (each P<0.001). In the comparison group, the income levels of all the participants after 1–5 years were higher than the initial income level (each P<0.001). The interaction of time and hearing impairment was statistically significant (P=0.021).
Conclusion
. The increase in income over time was relatively lower in the hearing-impaired adult population; therefore, the income gap widened between this population and the normal-hearing population.

Keyword

Hearing Loss; Economic Status; Income; Cohort Studies

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. A schematic illustration of the participant selection process used in the present study.

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