Why Is Presbycusis Important?

Article #1 ASHA

This article is about Presbycusis and how it is not taken into concern as much because it comes along with aging. Hearing loss is one of the most common chronic health concerns among older adults. This article points out that although so many people develop a hearing loss with age, only a fraction actually do something about it. Only a small part of those who notice their hearing problems go to get treatment, when it could actually help them with their hearing loss. People mostly ignore it and put off any treatment until it gets so bad they cannot even communicate in the most ideal situations. Those who have hearing aids, put off getting them until years after they noticed the hearing problem. This article discusses how one of the early signs of Prebycusis with aging, is having difficulty hearing and understanding speech in noisy places. As the hearing loss worsens, communication gets negatively impacted in all situations. There are different factors that contribute to the hearing loss. The article mentions age, genetics, noise exposure, and chronic disease. It advances over time and affects both ears equally. The hearing loss starts in the high frequencies and spreads into the low frequencies. Most people consider it as just a normal sign of aging. The
They showed the greatest decrease in speech perception ability on all of the tests. Even when the speech was made louder, the older adults with the hearing impairment said that it was loud, but ok, because they needed it louder to hear. For older people with Presybcusis, they are more sensitive to louder sounds. They may need speech louder to hear in among a noisy background but then it may become uncomfortable for them. This article shows how much hearing loss is accompanied by