TY - JOUR
T1 - Kids Nowadays Hear Better Than We Did
T2 - Declining Prevalence of Hearing Loss in US Youth, 1966–2010
AU - Hoffman, Howard J.
AU - Dobie, Robert A.
AU - Losonczy, Katalin G.
AU - Themann, Christa L.
AU - Flamme, Gregory A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), which provided funding for the hearing component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2010 via interagency agreements with the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). C.L.T. was supported in part by interagency agreements between the NIDCD, NIH, and NIOSH, CDC. Other than the authors, the funding organizations (NIDCD and CDC) had no role in the design, analysis, and interpretation of the secondary analysis of data; or in the preparation, review, and approval of the article; and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Objectives/Hypothesis: To investigate factors associated with hearing impairment (HI) in adolescent youths during the period 1966–2010. Study Design: Cross-sectional analyses of US sociodemographic, health, and audiometric data spanning 5 decades. Methods: Subjects were youths aged 12 to 17 years who participated in the National Health Examination Survey (NHES Cycle 3, 1966–1970; n = 6,768) and youths aged 12 to 19 years in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988–1994; n = 3,057) and NHANES (2005–2010; n = 4,374). HI prevalence was defined by pure-tone average (PTA) ≥ 20 dB HL for speech frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) and high frequencies (3, 4, and 6 kHz). Multivariable logistic models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Overall speech-frequency HI prevalence was 10.6% (95% CI: 9.7%-11.6%) in NHES, 3.9% (95% CI: 2.8%-5.5%) in NHANES III, and 4.5% (95% CI: 3.7%–5.4%) in NHANES 2005 to 2010. The corresponding high-frequency HI prevalences were 32.8% (95% CI: 30.8%-34.9%), 7.3% (95% CI: 5.9%-9.0%), and 7.9% (95% CI: 6.8%-9.2%). After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, overall high-frequency HI was increased twofold for males and cigarette smoking. Other significant risk factors in NHANES 2005 to 2010 included very low birth weight, history of ear infections/otitis media, ear tubes, fair/poor general health, and firearms use. Conclusions: HI declined considerably between 1966 to 1970 and 1988 to 1994, with no additional decline between 1988 to 1994 and 2005 to 2010. Otitis media history was a significant HI risk factor each period, whereas very low birth weight emerged as an important risk factor after survival chances improved. Reductions in smoking, job-related noise, and firearms use may partially explain the reduction in high-frequency HI. Loud music exposure may have increased, but does not account for HI differences. Level of Evidence: NA. Laryngoscope, 129:1922–1939, 2019.
AB - Objectives/Hypothesis: To investigate factors associated with hearing impairment (HI) in adolescent youths during the period 1966–2010. Study Design: Cross-sectional analyses of US sociodemographic, health, and audiometric data spanning 5 decades. Methods: Subjects were youths aged 12 to 17 years who participated in the National Health Examination Survey (NHES Cycle 3, 1966–1970; n = 6,768) and youths aged 12 to 19 years in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988–1994; n = 3,057) and NHANES (2005–2010; n = 4,374). HI prevalence was defined by pure-tone average (PTA) ≥ 20 dB HL for speech frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) and high frequencies (3, 4, and 6 kHz). Multivariable logistic models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Overall speech-frequency HI prevalence was 10.6% (95% CI: 9.7%-11.6%) in NHES, 3.9% (95% CI: 2.8%-5.5%) in NHANES III, and 4.5% (95% CI: 3.7%–5.4%) in NHANES 2005 to 2010. The corresponding high-frequency HI prevalences were 32.8% (95% CI: 30.8%-34.9%), 7.3% (95% CI: 5.9%-9.0%), and 7.9% (95% CI: 6.8%-9.2%). After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, overall high-frequency HI was increased twofold for males and cigarette smoking. Other significant risk factors in NHANES 2005 to 2010 included very low birth weight, history of ear infections/otitis media, ear tubes, fair/poor general health, and firearms use. Conclusions: HI declined considerably between 1966 to 1970 and 1988 to 1994, with no additional decline between 1988 to 1994 and 2005 to 2010. Otitis media history was a significant HI risk factor each period, whereas very low birth weight emerged as an important risk factor after survival chances improved. Reductions in smoking, job-related noise, and firearms use may partially explain the reduction in high-frequency HI. Loud music exposure may have increased, but does not account for HI differences. Level of Evidence: NA. Laryngoscope, 129:1922–1939, 2019.
KW - Hearing impairment
KW - cigarette smoking
KW - ear infections
KW - ear tubes
KW - loud music
KW - low birth weight
KW - noise exposure
KW - pediatric population
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U2 - 10.1002/lary.27419
DO - 10.1002/lary.27419
M3 - Article
C2 - 30289551
AN - SCOPUS:85053440965
VL - 129
SP - 1922
EP - 1939
JO - Laryngoscope
JF - Laryngoscope
SN - 0023-852X
IS - 8
ER -