The employment consequences of hearing loss among teachers: a 7-year follow-up study

Abstract Background Hearing loss is the third leading cause of years lived with disability. As the retirement age is rising, age-related hearing loss (HL) is an increasing occupational health (OH) problem. This study aimed to examine long-term changes in employment and work outcomes in teachers with HL and to identify barriers to and facilitators for their work participation. Methods In this prospective cohort study with 7-year follow-up, teachers completed an internet survey and an online hearing test. Teachers were classified as normal hearing (NH) and teachers with HL. For those who had stopped working during follow-up, we compared retirement age and proportions receiving disability pension in both groups. For those still working, differences between NH and teachers with HL in work outcome changes, i.e. work ability (Work Ability Scale), work performance (Health & Work Performance Questionnaire), and sustainable employability (Capability Set for Work Questionnaire) were investigated with ANOVA. Furthermore, teachers with HL answered questions on work participation barriers and facilitators for a thematic analysis. Results Of the invited N = 325 teachers, n = 211 (65%) responded and n = 89 were teachers with HL. Among those who had stopped working (n = 89), the mean retirement age was 64.6 years for both NH and teachers with HL. At follow-up, n = 10 received disability pension of which n = 9 had HL (p