This study describes outcomes of a pilot age-related hearing loss screening program implemented in two Family Medicine and three Otolaryngology (ENT) clinics at the Medical University of South Carolina, in terms of postscreening follow-up and associations of screening with hearing health care use.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Clinic owners and audiologists should review the implementation outcomes reported here, as large-scale embedding of hearing screening in primary care settings has shown promise for improving early detection pipelines — though local feasibility and referral capacity must be assessed independently.
Integrating hearing screening into primary care at scale could significantly reduce the well-documented gap between hearing loss onset and first hearing aid fitting.
- 01Pilot hearing screening program embedded in Family Medicine and ENT clinics at an academic medical center.
- 02Targets age-related hearing loss for earlier detection.
- 03Reports real-world implementation outcomes from a large-scale rollout.
- 04Published in the American Journal of Medicine Open (2026).
- 05Results could inform future hospital-based hearing screening policy.
A large-scale hearing screening program can be successfully implemented across Family Medicine and ENT clinics at an academic medical center.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42100123
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ajmo.2026.100127.
- Journal
- American Journal of Medicine Open
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Patients seen at Family Medicine and ENT clinics at an academic medical center
- Intervention
- Large-scale pilot hearing screening program for age-related hearing loss
Primary outcomes
Screening program implementation outcomes; Rates of hearing loss detection
