Hearing loss among teenagers 'has increased'
Thursday 19th August 2010
The prevalence of hearing loss among teenagers and young adults has risen, a new US study has shown.
Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the rate of hearing loss among adolescents had increased from 14.9 per cent in 1988-94 to 19.5 per cent in 2005-06.
The findings could be of interest to people working in audiology jobs in the UK, who may have noticed a similar trend among British teenagers.
Participants in the report were aged 12 to 19 and the researchers evaluated the hearing of 1,771 adolescents.
In terms of the type of hearing loss, during the 2005-06 period, it was "more commonly unilateral and involved the high frequencies".
The authors of the study also noted that the chances of developing hearing loss were "significantly higher" among children from families who live below the federal poverty threshold.
Speaking to Reuters Health, Dr Josef Shargorodsky noted that it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of the increase.
He explained that the adolescents often underestimate noise exposure when asked about it, which can make it hard to discover why more people in this age group are suffering from hearing loss.
Written by Megan Smith
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