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Prevalence of Subclinical Hearing Loss in the United States
Jacqueline M Dragon1, Maeher R Grewal1, Alexandria L Irace1
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, New York, USA.
Objective:
Current definitions of hearing loss (HL) may be insufficiently strict, as subclinical hearing loss (SCHL; >0 and ≤25 dB hearing level) has been associated with deleterious age-related conditions. SCHL prevalence and mean age of HL onset in the United States has not been characterized.
Study Design:
A cross-sectional epidemiologic prevalence study.
Setting:
US Community.
Methods:
We analyzed cross-sectional audiometric data in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005-2012, 2015-2018, n = 15,649). Results were scaled to the current population using weighting.
Results:
79.6% of participants (227.32 million Americans) had SCHL. The mean age of HL onset at thresholds of 25, 20, and 15 dB was 74, 66, and 55 years, respectively, for the 4-frequency pure-tone average, and 48, 44, and 35 years for the high-frequency pure-tone average.
Conclusion:
We present SCHL prevalence and define HL onset by various sensitive definitions. These results inform ongoing public health efforts to increase hearing aid utilization, particularly given the arrival of over-the-counter hearing aids.
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