Generational Differences in Audiometric and Self-Reported Hearing and Hearing Aid Use.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Birth cohort differences capture secular trends in population health. We aimed to determine birth cohort differences, defined by generation, in hearing-related outcomes.

Methods

Participants were from a community-based cohort study. Generation was classified according to birth year: Greatest (1901-1924), Silent (1925-1945), Baby Boom (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), or Millennial (1981-1996) and Gen Z (1997-2012). Primary outcomes were audiometric hearing loss, defined as a worse ear pure-tone average (PTA) of thresholds at frequencies 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 kHz > 25 dB HL, and self-reported hearing difficulty, defined as a score ≥ 6 on the Revised Hearing Handicap Inventory (RHHI). Analyses focused on hearing aid use included only participants with audiometric

SUBMITTER: Dillard LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12411394 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature