Abstract
Hearing impairment is one of the most important health problems of the elderly above 60. Very often it leads to verbal communication difficulty and without treatment it can cause serious psychological and social complications such as depression and social isolation. Prebyscusis remains a leading cause of sensorineural deafness in the elderly. Elderly patient must be encouraged to seek proper hearing assessment if they face hearing difficulty. Active screening by health care workers and patient self-evaluation by answering a simple list of screening questions are possible for early detection and treatment of hearing loss in the elderly. Although hearing loss in the elderly may not have a cure, early rehabilitation helps to restore better quality of life if the problem is detected early.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 526-529 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Medical Journal of Malaysia |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | Published - 2005 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Elderly
- Hearing impairment
- Prebyscusis
- Screening
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine