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Age-Related Hearing Loss

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geropsychology

  • 106 Accesses

Synonyms

Deafness; Hard of hearing; Hearing impairment; Presbycusis

Definition

Hearing loss is a decrease in an individual’s ability to hear. Hearing loss related to aging is called presbycusis.

Epidemiology

Hearing loss is a common sensory impairment in the older adult population. The US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) reports that almost 25% of adults aged 65–74 and 50% aged 75 and older have hearing loss to the level that they would benefit from an intervention such as a hearing aid (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders 2015). Epidemiological data from US samples indicate that men are more likely to experience hearing loss than women and individuals of Native American and White races are more likely to experience hearing loss than individuals of Hispanic, Black, or Asian races (Schoenborn and Heyman 2008). Occupationally, individuals who work in louder environments, such as transportation or manufacturing, are...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    Christina Garrison-Diehn

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Christina Garrison-Diehn

Authors
  1. Christina Garrison-Diehn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christina Garrison-Diehn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Nancy A. Pachana

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© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore (outside the USA)

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Garrison-Diehn, C. (2017). Age-Related Hearing Loss. In: Pachana, N.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-082-7_217

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