Listen Carefully: Why Access to Hearing Healthcare Matters

Send us Fan Mail World Hearing Day is observed every year on March 3. This year, to mark this important occasion, Dave sat down for an extended conversation with Dr. Sara Burdak, Starkey’s Chief Audiology Officer, and Michael Scholl, Starkey’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations....

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✦ The floor

Discussion

Signed responses from readers of the wire.

✦ Related stories ✦

PubMed·Journal article·Public health & policy·6w ago

Personal listening device usage, leisure noise exposure, hearing protection usage and hearing at standard frequencies: a longitudinal study from child/adolescence to young adulthood

Audiologists working with adolescents and young adults should monitor noise exposure habits longitudinally; if this study confirms hearing threshold shifts tied to device use, it strengthens counselling on safe listening — but clinical guidance changes should await full results...

Hearing Review·Professional org·Public health & policy·3w ago

WHO Updates Dementia Prevention Guidelines, Elevates Hearing Loss and Hearing Aid Use to Core Public Health Priorities

Audiologists should proactively communicate the WHO's explicit recommendation for hearing aid use as a dementia-prevention strategy when counseling patients with hearing loss, strengthening the case for early intervention and treatment uptake.

PubMed·Journal article·Public health & policy·3mo ago

Outcomes of a Large-Scale Pilot Hearing Screening Program at an Academic Medical Center

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...

PubMed·Journal article·Public health & policy·2w ago

Prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss in maritime workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Maritime workers represent a high-risk occupational group for noise-induced hearing loss; audiologists conducting occupational or industrial hearing screenings should ensure this population is on their radar for targeted surveillance and hearing conservation counseling.

PubMed·Journal article·Public health & policy·2mo ago

Primary Care Screening and Management of Hearing Loss in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Audiologists should be aware that referral gaps exist at the primary care level; advocate for standardized screening protocols in primary care settings to improve early identification and referral of older adults with hearing loss.

PubMed·Journal article·Public health & policy·3w ago

Auditory complications of COVID-19 infection and vaccination: a TriNetX retrospective cohort study

Clinicians should be aware that COVID-19 infection may be associated with new-onset tinnitus and hearing loss; however, this retrospective cohort design cannot establish causality, and no change to audiological screening protocols is yet justified pending stronger evidence.

PubMed·Journal article·Public health & policy·6w ago

Philippine Clinical Practice Guidelines for Periodic Health Examination: Screening for Hearing Disorders

Audiologists and primary care providers serving Filipino populations should review these guidelines to align screening protocols for hearing disorders with the recommended periodic health examination framework.

PubMed·Journal article·Public health & policy·3mo ago

Factors associated with responses to hearing screening questions among older adults

Audiologists and screening program designers should account for demographic and psychosocial factors (e.g., age, health literacy, stigma) that influence self-reported hearing screening responses, as these factors may affect detection accuracy in older adults.