Hearing loss and the risk of disability pension in Norway: The Hunt Study

Abstract

Aim: The purpose was to explore the possible associations between measured hearing thresholds and work related disability pension granted for other medical reasons in a Norwegian population. Method: This study included 25,537 persons from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) aged 20–54 years at baseline in HUNT1 (1984–1986) who also participated in the follow-up study 11 years later, HUNT2 (1995–1997) that included a hearing examination. Logistic regression analyses of disability pension granted up to 1996 or earlier in life were conducted for men and women separately and in two age strata. Effects of low, middle and high-frequency hearing thresholds were explored, adjusting the effects of each hearing frequency for each other. Further adjustment was made for educational level, category of work (seven categories) and general health in HUNT1. Results: In all, 0.4% (16 of 4306) of the disability pensions granted up to 1996 was due to hearing related diagnoses. The risk of being granted disability pension up to 1996 with registered diagnoses not related to hearing loss increased with degree of loss of low-frequency hearing in young and middle-aged men and middle-aged women (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.25–2.37; OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.04–1.30; OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.00–1.23). Conclusions: Hearing loss diagnoses are rarely reported as main causes in disability statistics, however, degree of hearing loss increased the risk of being granted with disability pensioning with diagnoses not related to hearing loss.