SIGHT AND HEARING
Definition
This topic covers detailed information about sight and hearing, including conditions that can be corrected (for instance by glasses) through to total blindness or deafness.
Population
Information was obtained for all persons in the 2014-15 NHS.
Methodology
Information about sight and hearing was published in the National Health Survey: First Results, 2014-15 based on a sample of 19,259 people.
Respondents were first asked whether or not they were colour blind (not conceptually considered to be a long term condition but is included as a long-term condition in the ICD10).
They were then asked whether they wore glasses or contact lenses to correct or partially correct their eyesight. Persons who did so were shown a prompt card listing a number of sight conditions (as below) which are currently corrected or partially corrected by glasses or contact lenses, and asked to select any conditions they may have had from the list::
- Astigmatism
- Short-sightedness/Myopia/difficulty seeing objects in the distance
- Macular degeneration
- Other age related sight problems/Presbyopia
- Long-sightedness/Hyperopia/difficulty seeing objects close up
- Other (one other eye sight problem could be recorded).
More than one response was allowed.
All persons were then asked whether they had any other sight problems. A list of conditions was provided to interviewers to make it easier to record the information. The listed categories were:
- Astigmatism
- Short-sightedness/Myopia/difficulty seeing objects in the distance
- Macular degeneration
- Other age related sight problems/Presbyopia
- Long sightedness/Hyperopia/difficulty seeing objects close up
- Totally blind in both eyes
- Totally blind in 1 eye
- Partially blind in both eyes
- partially blind in 1 eye
- Glaucoma
- Cataracts
- Trachoma
- Lazy eye/Strabismus
- Retinopathy
- Other (one other eye sight problem could be recorded).
More than one response was allowed.
Respondents who had previously reported having diabetes or high sugar levels and also a sight problem were asked whether any recorded sight problems were due to their diabetes or high sugar levels and the time since they last consulted an eye specialist or optometrist about that sight condition.
Respondents with diabetes or high sugar levels who did not report that their sight problem was a result of their condition, or reported that they did not have a sight problem, were asked how long since they last consulted an eye specialist or optometrist.
All respondents were then asked whether they had any hearing problems or problems with their ears which had lasted, or were expected to last for six months or more. As with eye sight problems, a list of conditions was provided to interviewers to make it easier to record the information. The listed categories were:
- Total deafness
- Deaf in 1 ear
- Hearing loss/partially deaf
- Tinnitus
- Meniere's Disease
- Otitis Media
- Other (one other hearing or ear problem could be recorded).
More than one response was allowed.
Data items
The questionnaire, data items and related output categories for this topic are available in pdf/ Excel spreadsheet format from the
Downloads page of this product.
Interpretation
Points to be considered in interpreting data for this topic include the following:
- Respondents may have reported sight problems as being corrected by glasses that are not generally considered to be able to be corrected. Data is as reported by the respondent.
- Sight and hearing problems are assumed to be current and long-term. As a result some reporting of short-term conditions may have been reported but have been classified as long-term.
- Sight and hearing problems do not require diagnosis for reporting.
Comparability with 2011-12
Sight and hearing data are considered directly comparable between the 2014-15 and 2011-12
NHS.
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