Scholars@Duke
Jessica Sayles West

Jessica Sayles West CV

Medical Instructor in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences
Communication Sciences
jessie.west@duke.edu
40 Duke Medicine Circle, Box 3805, Durham, NC 27710
40 Duke Medicine Circle, Yellow Zone Suite 4000, Durham, NC 27710
CV

Selected Publications

Hearing Screening in Older Adults in Primary Care Clinics: How the Effects of Setting and Provider Encouragement Differ by Patient Sex and Race.

Journal Article Ear Hear · March 2025 OBJECTIVES: Few studies have examined how patient sex or race influence hearing healthcare, which was our study purpose. DESIGN: We performed a secondary analysis using data from a pragmatic clinical trial that examined the effect of provider encouragement ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association Between Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Risks of Early and Recurrent Admissions Among Patients With Newly Diagnosed Heart Failure.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · December 2024 BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with greater risks of hospital readmission and mortality among patients with heart failure (HF). However, it is less clear whether socioeconomic disadvantage has an immediate and lasting impact on the ri ... Full text Link to item Cite

Development and Preliminary Validation of Stigma Measures for Care Partners of Persons Who Are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

Journal Article Ear Hear · September 2024 OBJECTIVES: A great deal of literature documents the significant demands, both physical and psychosocial, that care partners experience when providing care to persons with a range of health conditions. There is, however, far less research available on care ... Full text Link to item Cite

Development of Measures for d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Stigma: Introduction to the Special Supplement on Stigma Measurement Tools.

Journal Article Ear Hear · September 2024 People who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/DHH) often experience stigma and discrimination in their daily lives. Qualitative research describing their lived experiences has provided useful, in-depth insights into the pervasiveness of stigma. Quantitative ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preliminary Validation of Experienced Ageism Measures With Four Populations in the United States.

Journal Article Ear Hear · September 2024 OBJECTIVES: Ageism appears widely across the globe and poses an important threat to older people's well-being and health. With respect to hearing health, experiences, perceptions, and fear of ageism can delay the diagnosis of hearing loss, reduce pursuit o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preliminary Validation of Hearing Device-Related Stigma Measures in Four United States Populations.

Journal Article Ear Hear · September 2024 OBJECTIVES: Although hearing devices such as cochlear implants and hearing aids often improve communication, many people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/DHH) choose not to use them. Hearing device-related stigma, or negative societal beliefs about peo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Research Agenda and Applications for Preliminarily Validated Measures of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Stigma.

Journal Article Ear Hear · September 2024 In this special supplement of Ear and Hearing, we have presented preliminarily validated measures for stigma related to being d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/DHH) in the United States and Ghana. In this concluding article, we suggest avenues for the future re ... Full text Link to item Cite

Country Differences in Older Men's Hearing Difficulty Disadvantage.

Journal Article J Aging Health · May 6, 2024 Objectives: Hearing difficulty is prevalent in older adulthood and projected to increase via global aging, particularly among men. Currently, there is limited research on how this gender disparity might vary by country. Methods: Using 2018 data (n = 29,480 ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Association of Vision and Hearing Impairment on Cognitive Function and Loneliness: Evidence From the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Journal Article J Aging Health · April 15, 2024 Objectives: We investigated whether self-reported vision and hearing were associated with cognitive function and loneliness among Mexican adults aged 50 and older. Methods: Mexican Health and Aging Study data. Vision/hearing status was self-reported (excel ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Pragmatic Clinical Trial of Hearing Screening in Primary Care Clinics: Effect of Setting and Provider Encouragement.

Journal Article Ear Hear · January 2024 OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of hearing loss increases with age. Untreated hearing loss is associated with poorer communication abilities and negative health consequences, such as increased risk of dementia, increased odds of falling, and depression. Nonethe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association between perceived risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and cognitive function among U.S. older adults.

Journal Article Arch Gerontol Geriatr · December 2023 INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to assess factors associated with the perceived risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and how the perceived risk of ADRD was related to cognitive function. METHODS: We conducted a retrosp ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

To Make and Keep Friends: The Role of Health Status in Adolescent Network Tie Formation and Persistence.

Journal Article Soc Networks · July 2023 Health status may shape network structure through network dynamics (tie formation and persistence) and direction (sent and received ties), net of typical network processes. We apply Separable Temporal Exponential Random Graph Models (STERGMs) to National L ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Association Between Hearing Handicap and Life-Space Mobility in a Patient Population.

Journal Article Am J Audiol · June 2023 PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between self-reported hearing handicap and life-space mobility utilizing the Life-Space Questionnaire (LSQ). Life-space mobility reflects how an individual moves through their daily physica ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The impact of hearing loss on trajectories of depressive symptoms in married couples.

Journal Article Soc Sci Med · March 2023 Hearing loss is a prevalent chronic stressor among older adults and is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. The life course principle of linked lives highlights that an individual's stressors can impact the health and well-being of others; how ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The Long-Term Impact of Childhood Disability on Mental Health Trajectories in Mid- to Late-Life.

Journal Article J Aging Health · October 2022 OBJECTIVES: We draw from the life course and stress process frameworks to examine how experiencing disability in early life influences mental health in adulthood. METHODS: Data come from the Health and Retirement Study Cross-Wave Childhood Health and Famil ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Impact of Hearing Aid Use on Falls and Falls-Related Injury: Results From the Health and Retirement Study.

Journal Article Ear Hear · 2022 OBJECTIVES: Falls are considered a significant public health issue and falls risk increases with age. There are many age-related physiologic changes that occur that increase postural instability and the risk for falls (i.e., age-related sensory declines in ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Self-reported hearing loss, hearing aid use, and cognitive function among U.S. older adults.

Journal Article Int J Popul Stud · 2022 There has been increasing attention to the role of hearing loss as a potentially modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. However, more nationally-representative studies are needed to understand the co-occurring changes in hear ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Overcrowding and COVID-19 mortality across U.S. counties: Are disparities growing over time?

Journal Article SSM Popul Health · September 2021 Featured Publication A growing line of research underscores that sociodemographic factors may contribute to disparities in the impact of COVID-19. Further, stages of disease theory suggests that disparities may grow as the pandemic unfolds and more advantaged areas are better ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

U.S. Regional Differences in Physical Distancing: Evaluating Racial and Socioeconomic Divides During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Journal Article · April 30, 2021 Featured Publication AbstractHealth varies by U.S. region of residence. Despite regional heterogeneity in the outbreak of COVID-19, regional differences in physical distancing behaviors over time are relatively unknown. This study examines regi ... Full text Open Access Cite

Hearing Impairment and Mental Health Among Married Couples.

Journal Article J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · April 23, 2021 OBJECTIVES: Disablement is a significant health problem and chronic stressor for older adults and is associated with negative mental health outcomes. Although some research has explored how disability extends beyond individuals to influence the mental heal ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Demographic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Life Expectancy With Hearing Impairment in the United States.

Journal Article J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · April 23, 2021 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: Hearing impairment is one of the most common disabilities among older people, and its prevalence will increase as the U.S. population ages. However, little is known about social disparities in onset or transitions into and out of hearing impair ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Disaggregating Heterogeneity among Non-Hispanic Whites: Evidence and Implications for U.S. Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities.

Journal Article Popul Res Policy Rev · February 2021 Featured Publication Research has made strides in disaggregating health data among racial/ethnic minorities, but less is known about the extent of diversity among Whites. Using logistic regression modeling applied to data on respondents aged 40+ from the 2008 to 2016 American ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Regional differences in the impact of diabetes on population health in the USA.

Journal Article J Epidemiol Community Health · January 2021 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: To evaluate regional disparities in the influence of diabetes on population health, we examine life expectancies at age 50 between population with diabetes and healthy population and life quality among the population with diabetes among native- ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Hearing Loss

Chapter · 2021 Full text Cite

U.S. regional differences in physical distancing: Evaluating racial and socioeconomic divides during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2021 Health varies by U.S. region of residence. Despite regional heterogeneity in the outbreak of COVID-19, regional differences in physical distancing behaviors over time are relatively unknown. This study examines regional variation in physical distancing tre ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Immigration and health among non-Hispanic whites: The impact of arrival cohort and region of birth.

Journal Article Soc Sci Med · February 2020 Featured Publication Immigration is central to our understanding of U.S. racial and ethnic health disparities, yet relatively little is known about the health of white immigrants - a group whose ethnic origins have become increasingly diverse. To the extent that whites are inc ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Disparities in functional disability among Arab Americans by nativity, immigrant arrival cohort, and country of birth.

Journal Article SSM Popul Health · April 2019 This study contributes to a growing literature that documents the importance of arrival cohort and country of birth for differentiating the health of U.S. immigrants. We use nationally-representative data from nine years of the American Community Survey (2 ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Hearing impairment, social support, and depressive symptoms among U.S. adults: A test of the stress process paradigm.

Journal Article Soc Sci Med · November 2017 Featured Publication Hearing impairment is a growing physical disability affecting older adults and is an important physical health stressor, but few studies have examined it in relation to mental health outcomes and even fewer have considered the role of social support in buf ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Revealing Hearing Loss: A Survey of How People Verbally Disclose Their Hearing Loss.

Journal Article Ear Hear · 2016 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Hearing loss is the most common sensory deficit and congenital anomaly, yet the decision-making processes involved in disclosing hearing loss have been little studied. To address this issue, we have explored the phrases that adults with hearing ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite