Doctors believe that communication with those under their care is important, but most studies of communication between physicians and older adults do not mention that hearing loss may affect this interaction. New findings on this subject come from a review published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

 

 

To investigate, a team led by Joshua Chodosh, MD, MSHS, of New York University School of Medicine and Jan Blustein, MD, PhD, of New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service reviewed the published medical literature on doctor-patient communication, selecting research studies that involved patients aged 60 years and older.

 

 

Of the 67 papers included in the review, only 16 (23.9%) included any mention of hearing loss. In some cases (4 out of the 67), people with hearing loss were excluded from the study. Three of the studies reported on an association between hearing loss and quality of care. In only one study did the researchers offer those under care some kind of hearing assistance to see whether it would improve communication (That study found that offering hearing assistance improved patients’ understanding).

 

“Patients are often older people, for whom hearing loss is a daily issue,” said Blustein. “It’s also an issue that’s ripe for research: how can we attend to and improve hearing and understanding so that patients get the best quality care possible?”

 

Co-author Barbara Weinstein, PhD, of City University of New York and New York University School of Medicine, added that by adopting strategies to optimize communication between physicians and those under their care, the clinical encounter can be more productive with less effort required on the part of both parties.

 

In an accompanying editorial, Frank Lin, MD, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Heather Whitson, MD, MHS, of the Duke University School of Medicine noted that the review offers a major opportunity for practice improvement. “Common sense, low (or no) cost strategies can be employed to mitigate the negative impact of both hearing and vision loss in patient communication,” they wrote. “And some accommodations (e.g. minimizing ambient noise, speaking face to face, creating patient education materials with large-print font) are so simple and potentially beneficial that they could be implemented universally.”

 

 

Source: Wiley, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Image credit: Hearing Review