![Sample our Health and Social Care journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5938/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Health-Social-Care.jpg"})
Abstract
Objective: Age related hearing loss (ARHL) or presbyacusis is a complex condition caused by an interaction between environmental and genetic factors and is the most prevalent sensory impairment in the elderly. To date, only few environmental/lifestyle risk factors have been found. Research into risk factors underlying ARHL is increasingly urgent as populations grow older. Here, we investigate the relationship between ARHL and educational/occupational factors in a large cohort of people from isolated villages in Italy, Crimea region, Caucasus and Central Asia. Methods: Two thousand and sixty-eight people (aged 40–95 years) were recruited and analysed. Education was classified at five levels: no education, elementary, secondary, high school and university. Cases and controls were defined after a detailed evaluation of the hearing phenotype. Data were analysed using a mixed-effects logistic regression. Results: A statistically significant association between ARHL and education was detected. People with no education showed a higher association with the condition than people with a higher education (p < 0.001). Explanations could be many, including individual jobs. A strong correlation (ϕ > 0.45) between occupation and level of education was also found. Conclusion: Present findings provide a better knowledge of environment/lifestyle factors related to ARHL and might help in defining new preventive strategies for aging people.
Acknowledgements
The work has received funding from Ministry of Health (Ricerca Finalizzata and Ricerca Corrente) to PG and from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research to MP.
We thank Raffaella Agosti for critical revision of the manuscript.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.