# Presentation: 308209

## Hearing Overview

- -An estimated 28 million people in the U.S. are deaf or hard of hearing.
- -Some 1,465,000 individuals aged 3 years and over are deaf in both ears.

## Etiology

- Genetic factors
- Noise or trauma
- Sensitivity to certain drugs or medications
- Viral or bacterial infections

## Hearing and Language

- Impact of hearing loss speech and/or language acquisition
- Average age at diagnosis: estimated range, 14 months to 3 years
- Quality of life

## Hereditary Hearing Loss

- More than 300 inherited syndromes involved in hearing impairment or deafness. Hearing loss may also be non-syndromic, but inherited.  Some hearing loss is late-onset.

## Progressive Hearing Loss

- One cause of progressive or late-onset hearing loss is otosclerosis, affecting 1 out of 100 adults in the U.S. population.

## Other major causes of hearing loss

- Meniere’s disease--causing bilateral, often fluctuating hearing loss in 20-40% of cases, usually in conjunction with balance disorders and tinnitus.
- Presbycusis affects 30% of adults who are 65 or older.  About half the population over 75 has significant hearing loss.

## 
Tinnitus affects almost 15% of individuals 45 and older and is associated with many forms of hearing loss. 

More than 8% of the population has both visual and hearing impairment.

- Tinnitus affects almost 15% of individuals 45 and older and is associated with many forms of hearing loss.
- More than 8% of the population has both visual and hearing impairment.

## Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)

- Approximately 10 million Americans have irreversible hearing loss from noise.  Additionally, 30 million are estimated to be exposed to injurious levels of noise.
- NIHL is the most common occupational disease and the second most self-reported disease or injury. NIHL is PREVENTABLE!

## Otitis Media:  Middle Ear Infection

- 24.5 million visits to doctors’ offices
- Most frequently cited reason for taking child to the emergency room
- Health care costs are reported between $3 and $5 billion/year
- Can affect children during critical period for language acquisition

##  Boomers

- People are losing their hearing earlier in life.
- Men are more frequently affected in the 35 to 60-year-old group.

## Summary Objectives for Hearing

## Newborn Hearing Screening, Evaluation and Intervention

- Increase the proportion of newborns who are screened for hearing loss by age 1 month, have audiologic evaluation by age 3 months, and are enrolled in appropriate intervention services by 6 months.

## Otitis Media

- Reduce otitis media in children and adolescents.

## Rehabilitation for Adults

- (Developmental)  Increase access by persons who have hearing impairments to hearing rehabilitation services and adaptive devices,  including hearing aids, cochlear implants, or tactile or other assistive or augmentative devices.

## Hearing Examinations

- (Developmental) Increase the proportion of persons who have had a hearing exam on schedule.

## Referral

- (Developmental)  Increase the number of persons who are referred by their primary care physician for hearing evaluation and treatment.

## Ear protection

- Increase the use of appropriate ear protection devices, equipment, and practices.

## NIHL in children

- (Developmental)  Reduce NIHL in children and adolescents under the age of 17 years.

## NIHL and adults

- (Developmental)  Reduce adult hearing loss in the noise-exposed public.

## Disparities

- Communication Disorders in the Communication Age: Early identification, evaluation, and intervention can narrow the gap
- Older people and hearing loss
- Men and hearing loss

## Opportunities

- Early identification
- Public health education
- Assistive technologies
- Collaboration with Disabilities and Occupational Health organizations

## Thank you

## WISE EARS!

- NIDCD leads, with our partners at NIOSH, 81 organizations committed to a public education effort to prevent noise-induced hearing loss in the public and the worker.
- Strategic collaboration
- Media attention and support
- Local, national, and regional effort