II. Definitions
- Presbycusis
- Hearing Loss related to aging
III. Epidemiology
- Onset in middle age, and slowly progressive
- Most notable over age 65 years
- Most common cause of Sensorineural Hearing Loss
IV. Risk Factors
- Older Age
- Chronic loud noise exposure
- Tobacco Abuse
- Heavy Alcohol use
- Ototoxin exposure
V. Pathophysiology
- Slowly progressive Sensorineural Hearing Loss
- Typically due to atrophy of Organ of Corti and auditory nerve at basal end of Cochlea
- Multifactorial from aging, genetic predisposition, vascular supply to the Cochlea and other risk factors (see above)
VI. Symptoms
- Slowly progressive high frequency Hearing Loss
- Decreased speech discrimination
- See Hearing Impairment Severity Scale
- Poor understanding of speech even when loud enough
- Recruitment
- Abnormal Hypersensitivity to noise
VII. Evaluation
- Audiometry displays high pitched Hearing Loss
- Acoustic reflex testing
VIII. Management
- Audiology
- Otolaryngology (if Hearing Aid ineffective)