Hearing Healthcare Professionals | Physicians | Press

NWHW 2010 Women’s Health Fact Sheet

• Healthy hearing is important for women of all ages.
• More than 13 million women in the United States have hearing loss.
• Approximately 20% of those women with hearing loss are under age 45.
• Most women don’t include hearing tests as part of their routine healthcare routine.
• Most doctors don’t include hearing screenings as part of their patients’ physical exams. According to a BHI survey, fewer than 15 percent of those who received a physical exam in the last year said they received a hearing screening by their physician or nurse during that exam.
• Many women, especially younger women, attach a stigma to hearing loss and therefore don’t address it. But when left unaddressed, hearing loss can leave women at greater risk of depression and other emotional problems.
• Numerous studies have linked untreated hearing loss to a wide range of physical and emotional conditions, including irritability, negativism, anger, fatigue, tension, stress, depression, avoidance or withdrawal from social situations, social rejection and loneliness, reduced alertness and increased risk to personal safety, impaired memory and ability to learn new tasks, reduced job performance and earning power, and diminished psychological and overall health.
• Certain medical conditions can affect a woman’s hearing.
• Hearing loss is more than twice as common in adults with diabetes compared to those who do not have the disease, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
• Hearing loss may be associated with heart disease in older adults, according to a study carried out by the Population Health Program Faculty at Wisconsin University. According to the study, the prevalence of hearing loss is 54% greater among those who have a history of heart disease than in the general population. It was found that hearing problems after a myocardial infarction was a predictor for women but not for men. Women who had this kind of heart problem were 2.7 times more likely to suffer from hearing loss than women in general.
• Certain lifestyle choices can affect a woman’s hearing.
• Excessive noise damages the delicate hair cells in the inner ear. Women should wear earplugs or other protective gear when exposed to prolonged noise, and should protect their ears by keeping the volume down.
• Smoking and obesity could both cause permanent hearing damage, according to a study led by the University of Antwerp in Belgium. According to the study, the ability to pick out high frequency sounds was damaged in smokers and the obese. The hearing loss was found to be proportional to how much the individuals smoked and their body mass index (BMI).
• Certain important and lifesaving medications can cause damage to the ear. Over time, that damage can lead to hearing loss. Women who need to take these types of medicines should have their hearing monitored and use hearing aids when deemed appropriate by a hearing health professional.
• It is believed that a woman’s hearing can be temporarily affected when her progesterone levels are high, during the latter portion of her monthly cycles. What’s more, Hormone Replacement Therapy with progestin appears to speed up the natural gradual loss of hearing experienced by most women as they age.
• Excessive noise remains the most common cause of hearing loss in women.
• With more women in the workforce now than in decades past, they, too, are being exposed to job-related noise that can damage their hearing.
• In the home, vacuum cleaners, mixers, and coffee grinders can all exceed safe noise levels and can damage a woman’s hearing.
• BHI is offering an online hearing test, the Across America Hearing Check Challenge (www.hearingcheck.org), where women can quickly assess if they need a more comprehensive hearing check by a hearing professional.

• In addition for mothers of young children we offer a free downloadable Guide to Your Child’s Hearing.