TITLE:
Presbycusis: A Critical Issue in Our Community
AUTHORS:
Ming Zhang, Nahla Gomaa, Allan Ho
KEYWORDS:
Presbycusis; Age-Related Hearing Loss; Aging; Prevalence
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery,
Vol.2 No.4,
July
2,
2013
ABSTRACT: Hearing is an important sensation to the elderly as it
promotes their quality of life and maintains their safety and wellness. For
example, healthy hearing lets the elderly catch alarm sounds, stay alert to
danger whilst asleep, listen in the dark, detect sounds from behind,
communicate efficiently with other people, and maintain links to the world via
telephone and radio, especially after retirement. However, age-related hearing
loss, i.e., presbycusis, seems to
become a growing problem in our community. The purpose of this study is to
demonstrate whether presbycusis is a critical issue in our community. To
achieve this purpose, the data in the literature as well as in the websites
sponsored by hearing-related professional associations and sponsored by related
government’s departments have been searched and reviewed. The data resulted
from the review show a high prevalence of presbycusis, an ever-growing senior
population, an incredible increase in hearing impairment and presbycusis
population in the next two decades, a rank as high as at the third place for
the prevalence of presbycusis among chronic health conditions in elderly
resident facilities, and an alarmingly negative effect of presbycusis on mental
health, social life, speech perception and hearing-related areas in the brain.
These findings demonstrate that hearing loss in the elderly is a critical issue
in our community. The etiology, clinical significance, management of
presbycusis, prevention, and access of presbycusis population to assistive
devices are also overviewed and discussed.