A life course perspective on hearing loss: developmental origins and beyond

Hearing loss, considered a disease of old age, sadly occurs not uncommonly in children and young adults. Hearing loss thus affects everyone, from cradle to grave, and thus we have chosen ‘A life course perspective on hearing loss: developmental origins and beyond’ as the theme of one of our 2023 Topical Collection. The issue, prompted by the alarming reports from the WHO, will cover the evolution and the epidemic of silence, racial and sex differences in the burden of hearing loss, noise exposure and environmental agents as risk factors for hearing loss, the impact of early-life factors on hearing loss (e.g. exposures during childhood), and cellular senescence and aging effects in hearing loss in animal models and humans. This collection will also provide an understanding of the consequences of hearing loss (e.g., dementia) and the impact on life quality, and how rehabilitation (with hearing aids or cochlear implants) can address these issues. This topical collection invites expert hearing researchers in the fields of epidemiology, rodent models, human population and clinical research to contribute with original research, technical advances and brief reports. These papers will be published alongside a collection of invited state of the art review articles. Through a collection of articles, we aim to provide the latest evidence relevant to policy makers and health care systems.