Study finds increased prevalence of severe hearing impairment among vets

Abstract

Military veterans are exposed to high-intensity noise that can cause or contribute to hearing impairment, including hearing loss, if adequate hearing protection is not used. Although an analysis of data from the 1993-1995 Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study did not find significant differences in rates of hearing impairment between veterans and nonveterans, a more recent analysis found that veterans were 30% more likely to have severe hearing impairment after adjusting for age and current occupation. And veterans who served in the United States or overseas between September 2001 and March 2010 were four times more likely than nonveterans to suffer from the condition. The study, published in the July 22 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2011;60(28):955-958), included data on 151,995 persons 17 and older from the 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, a monthly national survey of 57,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Matthew R. Groenewold, PhD, Sangwoo Tak, ScD, and Elizabeth Masterson, MPH, of the Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at the CDC, conducted the study. Veteran status was defined as ever having served on active duty in the armed forces while severe hearing impairment was identified based on self or proxy report of being deaf or having serious difficulty hearing. In 2010, 8.9% of the U.S. population 17 and older was veterans, but only 0.7% of the population had served after September 2001. The prevalence of severe hearing impairment among nonveterans was 2.5%. The prevalence among all veterans was 10.4%, while the incidence among veterans who served after September 2001 was 3.9% (Table 1). The prevalence of the condition increased with age for veterans and nonveterans.Table 1: Percentage of persons aged ≥17 years reporting severe hearing impairment (SHI), by veteran status and selected characteristics — Current Population Survey, United States, 2010Nonveteran men and women reported similar prevalence of severe hearing impairment (2.3% and 2.5%, respectively). Female veterans, however, had a significantly lower prevalence than male veterans (4.0% versus 10.9%), but a significantly higher prevalence than either male or female nonveterans. Among nonveterans and veterans alike, non-Hispanic blacks reported the lowest prevalence of all racial and ethnic groups and non-Hispanic whites the highest. The prevalence of severe hearing impairment was significantly higher for veterans than for nonveterans in all occupational categories except farming, fishing, forestry, and production occupations such as assemblers and fabricators. Small sample sizes limited the ability to compare subgroups for veterans who served after September 2001. In a multivariable analysis, increasing age was positively associated with severe hearing impairment, as was working in certain occupational categories and unemployment or nonparticipation in the labor force, relative to working in management, business, and financial occupations. Female sex and race and ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white were significantly negatively associated with the condition. Controlling for demographic factors and occupation, all veterans were 30% more likely to have severe hearing impairment than nonveterans in regression model A, comparing all veterans with nonveterans. Veterans who served after September 2001 were four times more likely than nonveterans to have severe hearing impairment. Higher rates of severe hearing impairment not only affect the well-being of veterans, but are costly to the nation in increased use of medical services and disability payments, the authors noted. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, hearing impairment has been the most common type of service-connected disability since 2005, and the number of veterans being awarded compensation for hearing impairment has continued to grow each year. In fiscal year 2009, the VA paid approximately $1.1 billion to compensate 1.2 million veterans who filed claims for service-connected hearing impairments.