The impact of hearing impairment and noise-induced hearing injury on quality of life in the active-duty military population: challenges to the study of this issue. Issue 1 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alamgir, Hasanat; Turner, Caryn; Wong, Nicole; Cooper, Sharon; Betancourt, Jose; Henry, James; Senchak, Andrew; Hammill, Tanisha; Packer, Mark
• Is Part Of: Military medical research. Volume 3:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 8
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Quality of life (QOL) -- Hearing impairment -- Noise-induced hearing injury -- Hearing loss -- Tinnitus -- Hearing impairment and noise-induced hearing injury (HINIHI) -- Military -- Service members; Medicine, Military -- Periodicals; Medicine, Military -- China -- Periodicals; 616.98023
• DOI: 10.1186/s40779-016-0082-5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2054-9369

Abstract

Abstract The objectives of this research were to 1) summarize the available evidence on the impact of hearing loss on quality of life (QOL) among U.S. active-duty service members, 2) describe the QOL instruments that have been used to quantify the impact of hearing loss on quality of life, 3) examine national population-level secondary databases and report on their utility for studying the impact of hearing loss on QOL among active-duty service members, and 4) provide recommendations for future studies that seek to quantify the impact of hearing loss in this population. There is a lack of literature that addresses the intersection of hearing impairment, the military population, and quality of life measures. For audiological research, U.S. military personnel offer a unique research population, as they are exposed to noise levels and blast environments that are highly unusual in civilian work settings and can serve as a model population for studying the impact on QOL associated with these conditions. Our team recommends conducting a study on the active-duty service member population using a measurement instrument suitable for determining decreases in QOL specifically due to hearing loss.