Hearing Loss in Adults - Silent Epidemic

Abstract

Introduction: Hearing loss affects 15% of Poles, i.e. more than 5.7 million people. Despite this, it is still underdiagnosed and insufficiently often treated. As its incidence increases significantly with age, this issue will only affect more people with a rapidly ageing population. Hearing loss has a number of different negative consequences, significantly reducing patients' quality of life, but it is also a problem for society as a whole.
Aim of the study: Review of current knowledge on hearing loss, detailing pathophysiology, prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment.
Methods and materials: A review of chosen literature in the PubMed database, Scopus, and Google Scholar using the keywords of “hearing loss”, „ conductive hearing loss”, “sensorineural hearing loss”, “hearing loss in adults”, “diagnosing hearing loss” and „hearing loss treatment”.

Results: Hearing loss is categorized as conductive, sensorineural or mixed, with the most common being presbyacusis. Although it is a multi-factorial condition, reducing exposure to excessive noise is most important. There is no consensus on screening in adults. Various diagnostic methods exist with tonal audiometry being the most important. Conductive hearing loss is potentially amendable surgically, while in case of sensorineural hearing loss, hearing aids are the most common treatment method. Satisfactory results in the treatment of severe hearing loss and deafness can be achieved with cochlear implants. Recent research offers hope for the future of hearing loss treatment.

Conclusions: Timely diagnosis, which can be performed with relatively simple tools, is of the utmost importance. There are a number of treatment methods, which must be individually selected with the patient's participation, that yield good results.