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. 2021 Oct;33(9):786-797.
doi: 10.1177/08982643211014323. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Near Vision but not Hearing Loss is Associated with Lacking a Usual Source of Health Care

Adam Simning  1   2 , Thomas V Caprio  1   2   3 , Yue Li  2 , Yeates Conwell  1   4
Affiliations

Near Vision but not Hearing Loss is Associated with Lacking a Usual Source of Health Care

Adam Simning et al. J Aging Health. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: Sensory loss may be a barrier to accessing healthcare services, and this study seeks to examine the association of sensory loss with whether older adults report having a usual source of health care. Methods: Our study included 7548 older adults who participated in the National Health and Aging Trends Study in 2015. Having a self-reported usual source of health care was our outcome, and hearing and vision loss were our primary independent variables. Results: In multivariate analysis accounting for demographics, socioeconomic, health status, and environmental covariates, near vision loss but not distance vision or hearing loss was associated with decreased odds of having a usual source of health care. Discussion: That older adults with near vision loss were less likely to report having a usual source of health care is concerning. Examining barriers to care is needed to identify sensory loss-relevant processes to optimize and intervene upon.

Keywords: epidemiology; functional loss; health services utilization; primary care services.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: YL serves as an editor for Springer and a consultant for BCG Inc. and Intermountain Healthcare. The authors otherwise declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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