The Impact of Hearing Loss on Health: Interprofessional Guidance for Health and Primary Care Providers (PCPs)

Abstract

In the United States, approximately one in eight (13 percent, or 30 million) individuals aged 12 years or older has bilateral hearing loss. When unaddressed and untreated, hearing loss is associated with and contributes to other significant health issues; specifically, social isolation, depression, stress, and anxiety, incidental falls, dementia and impaired cognition, and reduced quality of life. This is a public health concern. Health and primary care providers are in a unique position to have a positive impact by probing the hearing of the patients they see, providing information, and making appropriate referrals to reduce deleterious effects when this impairment occurs.