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Surviving Hearing Loss: A Personal Perspective
Katherine Bouton
Michigan Audiology ConferenceOctober 16, 2014
Hearing Loss Health
• Hearing Loss Is Normal
• Hearing Aids Work
• Honesty Is Liberating
• Advocacy Is Empowering
Age of Onset of Hearing Loss
• Percentage distribution by sex and age, based on subjects' report of any permanent hearing loss (National Health Interview Survey, 2007).
• Female Male• Birth 2 2• 0–2 years 3 2• 3–5 years 3 2• 6–19 years 12 11• 20–39 years 20 32• 40–59 years 30 32• 60–69 years 14 12• 70+ years 16 8
• Source: National Health Interview Survey, 2007. Chart created by the NIDCD Epidemiology and Statistics Program. Updated in November 2012.
Prevalence of Hearing Loss in the United States, 2001-2008
Hearing loss defined as a better-ear PTA of 0.5-4kHz tones > 25 dB
Lin et al., Arch Int Med. 2011
Hearing Loss & Hearing Aid Use Prevalence in the U.S. , 1999-2006
Chien & Lin, Arch Int Med, 2012
Noise Aging.
Dangerous noise levels are a combination of time and intensity.
• Loud. But short.
Daily Exposure
Blender
Lawn mower
Food processor
Vacuum cleaner
Power saw
Football Game
Restaurant
Audiogram 1988
New York Times
Audiogram 2008
HOW I HEAR TODAY
September 2014
Ready? Say the Word….
• Sheep Cheap?
• Mess Nest?
• Witch Rich?
• Sit Sh……?
Context is Everything
What?
• Tour • Four• Shore • Chore• Thor
Ah! I get it.
The Viking Thor chose as his chore to take the four ashore and give them a tour.
Maxwell and one of his favorite foods.
-
Conversation in the dog park.
“What’s his name?”
“Four and a half.”
Huh?
Misunderstanding
• Most People With Hearing Loss Can’t Read Sign
Language.
Where is the CART screen?
The FM system? The induction loop?
Medicare and Hearing Health
Untreated Hearing Loss
• Depression and isolation.
• Anxiety. Paranoia.
• Increased risk of falls. Balance issues.
• Cognitive decline.
Hearing Loss & Incident Dementia Dementia incidence in 639 adults followed for >10 years in the BLSA
Lin et al., Arch Neuro., 2011
HR 95% CI p
Mild 1.89 1.00 – 3.58 0.05
Moderate 3.00 1.43 – 6.30 .004
Severe 4.94 1.09 – 22.4 .04
Risk of incident all-cause dementia
(compared to normal hearing)a
a Adjusted for age, sex, race, education, DM, smoking, & hypertension
The question of whether treating hearing loss could delay cognitive/physical
decline or dementia remains unknown
There has never been a randomized clinical trial of treating hearing loss to explore effects on
reducing the risk of cognitive decline/dementia
Frnak Lin
The Cost of Dementia
• By 2050 one in 30 Americans will have dementia.
• “ If we could delay the onset by even one year, the prevalence of dementia drops by 15 percent down the road. You’re talking about billions in health care savings.”
• Frank Lin
Hearing Loss & Hearing Aid Use Prevalence in the U.S. , 1999-2006
Chien & Lin, Arch Int Med, 2012
Medicare and Hearing Health
New York Times Newsroom(acoustic nightmare)
Honesty is Liberating
Which Would You Rather Been Seen As?
• Someone with Hearing Loss, a medical
condition that is correctable with
hearing aids.
• Senile, Drunk, Stupid,
Burned Out, Snobbish,
Bored, Uninterested,
Empty-Headed,
Vacuous, Ditzy.
Anger Can Be Destructive
Or Constructive. Turn It Into Advocacy.
Support and Advocacy
Hearing Aids
So many choices. And so expensive.
Audiology
CareerCast ranks Audiology #5 on its list of
Best Jobs of 2014.
BLS Median Annual Salary: $69,720 Projected Job Growth by 2022: 34%
Jobs Rated Score : 110
The telephone!
It might as well be this…. Without this.
Phonak SmartLink+ FM Transmitter
The speaker wears this transmitted around his neck or puts it on a podium.
On the left , the settings for sound direction.
On the right, settings for volume and program, as well as for answering the phone.
Why are these on the speaker’s device when it is the listener who may need to use them?
Traveling With Chargers
My chargers need a suitcase of their
own.
Adapter and Power Strip.
Left to RightSmartLink charger
MyLink chargerMacBook Air charger
Cochlear Implant battery chargerIPhone (camera) charger.
No room for the Nook or for my regular camera chargers.
Let’s Loop AmericaThese signs should be clearly posted inside and outside the venue.
• Loop sign Version 1 • Loop sign Version 2
Looping may need to be supplemented by CART and ASL.
A New Life
Career change.
My own schedule.
Advocacy.
Friends.
HLAA
”The Nation’s Voice for People with Hearing Loss.”
Advocacy, education, support,
companionship.
Advocacy is empowering.
Advocacy
• “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
•― Margaret Mead
Movie Theater
Garble vs. Clarity
Chaos vs. Order
What??? Communicate.
Looping = Hearing
Hearing is Good
Acknowledgements
• Thanks to my publisher, Sarah Crichton Books at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, for funding my research.
• Thanks to Frank Lin, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, for sharing his research, insight and slides.
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