Objective  To examine the prevalence and influncing factors of social participation restriction (SPR) among Chinese elderly residents with hearing disability (HD) and to provide evidences for promoting quality of life among the elderly with HD.

  Methods  The data on 39 166 elderly residents (60 years old and older) with HD were extracted from the Second National Sample Survey on Disability in China in 2006. The HD severity of was categoried according to the criteria recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016 and the SPR was assessed based on WHO Disability Assessment Schedule under the framework of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Chi-square test and unconditionsl multivariate logistic regression were utilized to analyze the SPR and its impact factors among the residents with various severities of HD.

  Results  Among all the participants, 33 524 were assessed with SPR, with a prevalence rate of 85.59%; among the participants with moderate HD or severe HD, the SPR prevalence rate was 76.71% (10 092/13 156) and 90.09% (23 432/26 010), respectively. The results of regression analysis showed that ≥ 80 years was a main risk factor of SPR for the participants with moderate HD but aged ≥ 70 years was a main risk factor of SPR for the participants with severe HD; having an education of primary schoo and above, with a spouse, having family income of ≥ 1 401 yuan RMB per capita, and living in an urban region or regions with moderate or high human development index (HDI) were protective factors against SPR for the participants with moderate or severe HD.

  Conclusion  Social participation restriction is greatly prevalent and mainly influenced by the disability severity, age, marital status, education, family income, and socio-economic development level of living region among elderly residents with hearing disability in China.