Hearing loss may impair physical and social function, and is associated with cognitive deficits, mood disturbances and behavioral disorders. Ninety percent of hearing loss in the elderly is due to sensorineural changes, and many cases are amenable to amplification.
Hearing aids improve the quality of life.
On the basis of high prevalence and proven effectiveness of intervention, there is fair evidence to include screening for hearing impairment in the periodic health examination. Ninety percent of presbycusis is due to sensorineural hearing loss, resulting from an interaction of age-related changes, diseases and agents that damage hearing. Changes due to aging include stiffening of the basilar membrane, hyperostosis, arteriosclerotic and rheologic changes, together with degeneration of the organ of Corti, loss of hair cells, spiral ganglion degeneration and impaired neural regulation of endolymph. Hearing disability refers to the limitation in performing everyday tasks such as understanding speech in the presence of background noise. The elderly hearing impaired person may have normal low frequency hearing with loss in the mid and high frequencies.