Epidemiology of Hearing

Details

• Personal Author:
  Masterson, Elizabeth A. ; Themann, Christa L.
• Description:
  Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants (causes) of health-related states or events in specified populations in order to prevent or control health problems (CDC, 2012; Gordis, 2009). Those health-related states include disease, injury, disability and death. The focus here is on hearing conditions in the U.S. population. Surveillance is the vehicle through which much of the data necessary for epidemiological study is collected, including for hearing. Surveillance is the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of health-related information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease or injury and identifying unusual events of public health importance (Halperin & Howard, 2011; Langmuir, 1971). Audiologists, researchers and others who work in hearing loss prevention need to be able to answer important questions. How many people have hearing conditions? Who are they - who are the high-risk groups? What are the risk factors for hearing loss? Are current prevention and treatment interventions working - do we see a reduction in hearing conditions over time? Are there emerging concerns that need to be addressed? Answering these and other questions allows those in the field to focus limited resources where they are needed most and target those at highest risk for intervention. Epidemiology and surveillance also answer another important question. What is normal hearing? Audiologists use epidemiological data in their daily work - even though they might not realize it. Reference values for audiometric zero are rooted in epidemiological surveys conducted initially by the United States Public Health Service in 1935-1936 (Beasley, 1938) and updated later with survey and laboratory data from five countries (Jerger, 2009). Every time someone conducts a pure tone hearing test, the recorded thresholds are essentially a comparison to an epidemiological data set. This chapter will discuss the frequency of hearing conditions and risk factors by life stage, including at birth, through childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and among the elderly. It will also discuss hearing conditions and risk factors among working adults. It is important to understand the primary sources of the information and terms that will be used throughout. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Epidemiology Hearing Loss Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Age Groups Audiological Testing Hearing Loss Prevention Hearing Tests Surveillance
• ISBN:
  9789811264993
• Publisher:
  World Scientific Publishing
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-43
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069134
• Citation:
  Health and hearing. Alessio HM, Marron KH, eds. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific Publishing, 2023 Oct; :1-43
• Contact Point Address:
  Elizabeth A. Masterson, Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  EMasterson@cdc.gov
• Editor(s):
  Alessio HM; Marron KH
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Health and hearing
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:23db424ec4bfd00085361cada71dd9a868c2cef38d856e4e81930d79c0ea95ef9e5e75e30c539e614662e2acf7ef2cd2548450a8ebb81d948f9a4d6256f6ad88
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207671/cdc_207671_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.17 MB ]