Taking a break from Poker, where I spanked a couple of Irish lads *having the time of my life* to post this article that I found on Swiller's blog. Check it out...what do you think??? Universal Newborn Hearing Screening is obviously what interests me, but...what about MANDATORY ADULT HEARING SCREENING?? (*wink*)
CHICAGO (Reuters) - One of three U.S. adults already suffers from some degree of hearing loss and the use of personal stereos and an aging population may create a hearing impairment epidemic, researchers said on Monday.
A team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore estimated that 55 million Americans have hearing loss in one or both ears, with men, whites and the least-educated most affected.
One out of six, or 29 million adults, have some trouble discerning speech, more than previous estimates, they reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"The prevalence of hearing loss in the United States is predicted to rise significantly because of an aging population and the growing use of personal listening devices. Indeed, there is concern that we may be facing an epidemic of hearing impairment," Dr. Yuri Agrawal of the Baltimore hospital wrote.
It is common for people to ignore or disavow hearing loss, the researchers said, leading to difficulty communicating that can result in productivity problems at work, depression, and less access to health care that ultimately raises the risk of sickness and death.
Hearing loss is common among people 70 and older, according to the report. But hearing loss also affected 8.5 percent of those in their 20s and 17 percent of people in their 30s. Exposure to workplace noise, firearms, and loud music were all risk factors.
Assessing health information collected from 5,700 Americans aged 20 to 69 years between 1999 and 2004 in the federal National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Agrawal and colleagues found men were twice as likely as women (21 percent versus 11 percent) to have speech-frequency hearing loss in one or both ears.
Whites were more than twice as prone to hearing loss than blacks, and those with less education were more at risk than those who completed high school or beyond.
Also dramatically increasing the chances of hearing loss were smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Screening for hearing loss should begin in young adulthood, particularly for vulnerable groups, Agrawal concluded.
4 comments:
Jodi, I would like to share a few concepts with those who are reading your blog. It is worth noting that adult hearing screening is being promoted by the European Commission in Bruxelles by means of a project funded for the next three years whose title is AHEAD III. The acronym stands for Assessment of Hearing in the Elderly and Adults. Aging and Degeneration- Integration through
Immediate Intervention. It has been recognized by the EU Research Programme on Health (area Chronic Diseases) that this is an important issue for Europe, in that in 2020 about 100 million Europeans will be older than 65 years, and about 30 to 40 millions will have some hearing problems. Hearing scientists, clinical researchers and technicians from about 10 European Research Centers, Hospitals and organizations will coordinate their efforts to develop new screening devices, new strategies and protocols. One of the briefs of this Project is the organization of the Intl' Consensus Development Conference on Adult Screening is expected to deliver a Position Statement to provide some guidelines (June 2010, Cernobbio (Lake Como), Italy). The project has been generated in year 2007 and the preliminary strategic meetings have already been held. So therefore, yes indeed, adult hearing screening will become a reality in a few years!! This should not be surprising: hearing losses cannot be seen, effects are seen, when effects are seen it is too late. It is much like what science, technology and protocols made available about 15 years ago when Newborn Hearing Screening began to become a reality.
Interesting stuff Jodi, hey, has that Hurrican hit yet?
Ferdi,
Thank you for sharing that information. There is and definitely will be a serious need for Adult Hearing Screening...I'm looking forward to reading more literature, and obviously Cernobbio - 2010.
Jodi
Val *smile* the Hurricane will be blowing in on the 14th...keep your pants on! Jodi
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