Hanyang Med Rev.  2015 May;35(2):78-83. 10.7599/hmr.2015.35.2.78.

Presbycusis

• Kim SH
• Yeo SG

• KMID: 1793735
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7599/hmr.2015.35.2.78

Abstract

Presbycusis is gradual hearing loss in both ears that commonly occurs as people age. Presbycusis is a complex phenomenon characterized by audiometric threshold shift, deterioration in speech-understanding and speech-perception difficulties in a noisy environment. Factors contributing to presbycusis include mitochondria DNA mutation, genetic disorders, hypertension, diabetes, metabolic disease and other systemic diseases in the intrinsic aspects. Extrinsic factors include noise, ototoxic medication and diet. However, presbycusis may not be related to the intrinsic and extrinsic factors separately. Presbycusis can greatly affect one's quality of life; impaired hearing restricts communication and untreated presbycusis could result in social isolation and even depression. Current amplification methods related to auditory rehabilitation can provide improved communication ability to users. Nevertheless, only a minority of elderly people with impaired hearing use hearing aids. The purpose of this review is to raise the awareness of presbycusis, to update our current understanding of presbycusis with a focus on age-related deficits in auditory and cognitive processing of speech and to explore strategies of prevention, identification, amplification, and aural rehabilitation. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of hearing health care and the overall quality of life of older adults.

Keyword

Presbycusis; Hearing Loss; Hearing Aids; Rehabilitation

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Communication
Correction of Hearing Impairment
Delivery of Health Care
Depression
Diet
DNA
Ear
Hearing
Hearing Aids
Hearing Loss
Humans
Hypertension
Metabolic Diseases
Mitochondria
Noise
Presbycusis*
Quality of Life
Rehabilitation
Social Isolation
DNA

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