Triple difficulties in Japanese women with hearing loss: marriage, smoking, and mental health issues.

<h4>Objective</h4>To examine the consequences of early-onset hearing loss on several social and health measures and any related gender differences in Japanese populations.<h4>Methods</h4>Data from a 2007 nationally representative cross-sectional household survey of 136,849 me...

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Main Authors: Yoko Kobayashi, Nanako Tamiya, Yoko Moriyama, Akihiro Nishi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116648&type=printable
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author Yoko Kobayashi
Nanako Tamiya
Yoko Moriyama
Akihiro Nishi
author_facet Yoko Kobayashi
Nanako Tamiya
Yoko Moriyama
Akihiro Nishi
author_sort Yoko Kobayashi
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Objective</h4>To examine the consequences of early-onset hearing loss on several social and health measures and any related gender differences in Japanese populations.<h4>Methods</h4>Data from a 2007 nationally representative cross-sectional household survey of 136,849 men and women aged 20 to 39 years were obtained (prevalence of self-reported hearing loss: 0.74%). We focused particularly on four social and health measures: employment status (employed/unemployed), marital status (married/unmarried), smoking behavior (yes/no), and psychological distress (K6 instrument: ≥ 5 or not). We examined the association of hearing loss for each measure using generalized estimating equations to account for correlated individuals within households.<h4>Findings</h4>There was no significant association with employment status (p = 0.447). Men with hearing loss were more likely to be married, whereas women with hearing loss were less likely to be married (p < 0.001 for interaction). Although hearing loss was not associated with a current smoking status in men, women with hearing loss were more likely to be current smokers (p < 0.001 for interaction). Moreover, hearing loss was associated with psychological distress in men and women (both p < 0.001).<h4>Conclusion</h4>These findings suggest that hearing loss is related to social and health issues in daily life, including a lower likelihood of marriage, more frequent smoking, and poorer mental health, especially in women. These issues may reflect a gap between the actual needs of women with hearing loss and the formal support received as a result of existing public health policies in Japan.
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spelling doaj-art-25b75e0091794cbaa36f74179fce628f2025-08-20T02:15:01ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01102e011664810.1371/journal.pone.0116648Triple difficulties in Japanese women with hearing loss: marriage, smoking, and mental health issues.Yoko KobayashiNanako TamiyaYoko MoriyamaAkihiro Nishi<h4>Objective</h4>To examine the consequences of early-onset hearing loss on several social and health measures and any related gender differences in Japanese populations.<h4>Methods</h4>Data from a 2007 nationally representative cross-sectional household survey of 136,849 men and women aged 20 to 39 years were obtained (prevalence of self-reported hearing loss: 0.74%). We focused particularly on four social and health measures: employment status (employed/unemployed), marital status (married/unmarried), smoking behavior (yes/no), and psychological distress (K6 instrument: ≥ 5 or not). We examined the association of hearing loss for each measure using generalized estimating equations to account for correlated individuals within households.<h4>Findings</h4>There was no significant association with employment status (p = 0.447). Men with hearing loss were more likely to be married, whereas women with hearing loss were less likely to be married (p < 0.001 for interaction). Although hearing loss was not associated with a current smoking status in men, women with hearing loss were more likely to be current smokers (p < 0.001 for interaction). Moreover, hearing loss was associated with psychological distress in men and women (both p < 0.001).<h4>Conclusion</h4>These findings suggest that hearing loss is related to social and health issues in daily life, including a lower likelihood of marriage, more frequent smoking, and poorer mental health, especially in women. These issues may reflect a gap between the actual needs of women with hearing loss and the formal support received as a result of existing public health policies in Japan.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116648&type=printable
spellingShingle Yoko Kobayashi
Nanako Tamiya
Yoko Moriyama
Akihiro Nishi
Triple difficulties in Japanese women with hearing loss: marriage, smoking, and mental health issues.
PLoS ONE
title Triple difficulties in Japanese women with hearing loss: marriage, smoking, and mental health issues.
title_full Triple difficulties in Japanese women with hearing loss: marriage, smoking, and mental health issues.
title_fullStr Triple difficulties in Japanese women with hearing loss: marriage, smoking, and mental health issues.
title_full_unstemmed Triple difficulties in Japanese women with hearing loss: marriage, smoking, and mental health issues.
title_short Triple difficulties in Japanese women with hearing loss: marriage, smoking, and mental health issues.
title_sort triple difficulties in japanese women with hearing loss marriage smoking and mental health issues
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116648&type=printable
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AT yokomoriyama tripledifficultiesinjapanesewomenwithhearinglossmarriagesmokingandmentalhealthissues
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