dc.description.abstract | Recent epidemiological data suggest the relation between hearing difficulty and depression is
more evident in younger and middle-aged populations than in older adults. There are also
suggestions that the relation may be more evident in specific subgroups; i.e. other factors may
influence a relationship between hearing and depression in different subgroups. Using crosssectional
data from the UK Biobank on 134,357 community-dwelling people and structural
equation modelling, this study examined the potential mediating influence of social isolation
and unemployment, and the confounding influence of physical illness and cardiovascular
conditions on the relation between a latent hearing variable and both a latent depressive
episodes variable and a latent depressive symptoms variable. The models were stratified by
age (40s, 50s, and 60s) and gender, and further controlled for physical illness and
professional support in associations involving social isolation and unemployment. The latent
hearing variable was primarily defined by reported hearing difficulty in noise. For all
subgroups, poor hearing was significantly related to both more depressive episodes and more
depressive symptoms. In all models, the direct and generally small association exceeded the
indirect associations via physical health and social interaction. Significant (depressive
episodes), and near significant (depressive symptoms) higher direct associations were
estimated for males in their 40s and 50s than for males in their 60s. There was at each age
group no significant difference in estimated associations across gender. Irrespective of the
temporal order of variables, findings suggest that audiological services should facilitate
psychosocial counselling. | en_US |