Prevalence of Self-reported Hearing Loss in the Elderly and its Associated Factors in Juiz de Foras/Prevalencia de perda auditiva autorrelatada em idosos e fatores associados em Juiz de For a/Prevalencia de perdida auditiva autorreferida en idosos y factores asociados en Juiz de Fora

Introduction: Hearing Loss (HL) in the elderly entails functional impairment and public health costs, however, there are few studies in Brazil to verify its prevalence and associated factors. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of self-reported HL in community elderly aged 65 years and over, part of the Fragility in the Brazilian Elderly study--FIBRA--JF. And to investigate associated factors. Methods: Cross-sectional study derived from the Multicentric Study on Fragility in the Brazilian Elderly--FIBRA Network--with a sample composed of 427 elderly people from Juiz de Fora. Elderly subjects who: (1) answered no to the question "Do you listen well?"; (2) answered yes to the question "Do you wear hearing aids?" From this, we studied the association of self-reported HL with socio-demographic, clinical, and behavioral variables. The data analysis was done by SPHINX LEXICA & EURECA V. 5 program, establishing the frequency of each variable, using the chi-square test method ([X.sup.2]). Results: A prevalence of 24.4% of self-reported HL was found. There was a strong association with the age variable (p < 0.05), with the average age for those who did not hear well of 77.09 years. The other variables analyzed did not show significance. Conclusions: Differences were found in the prevalence of self-reported HL, probably because it was a self-report and there were methodological differences between the studies. The age variable was the main association established, requiring more population studies to better establish other associations. Keywords: Hearing loss; Presbycusis; Aging; Risk factors; Prevalence. Introducao: A Perda Auditiva (PA) em idosos traz prejuizos funcionais e gastos com saude publica, mas ha poucos estudos no Brasil para verificar sua prevalencia e fatores associados. Objetivos: Determinar a prevalencia de PA autorrelatada em individuos com 65 anos ou mais, moradores da comunidade, e participantes do estudo sobre fragilidade em idosos brasileiros --FIBRA--JF e investigar os fatores associados. Metodos: Estudo transversal derivado do Estudo Multicentrico sobre Fragilidade no Idoso Brasileiro--Rede FIBRA--com amostra composta por 427 idosos de Juiz de Fora. Foram considerados sujeitos com PA autorrelatada os idosos que: (1) declararam nao ouvir bem em resposta a questao "O(A) senhor(a) ouve bem?"; (2) responderam sim para a questao "O(A) senhor(a) usa aparelho auditivo?". A partir dai estudou-se a associacao da PA autorrelatada com variaveis socio