The Societal Costs of Severe to Profound Hearing Loss in the United States

Abstract

Results indicate that an additional $4.6 billion will be spent over the lifetime of persons who acquired their impairment in 1998. The particularly high costs associated with prelingual onset of severe to profound hearing impairment suggest interventions aimed at children, such as early identification and/or aggressive medical intervention, may have a substantial payback.

Comparative Study between the use of Melatonin and A Solution with Melatonin, Tryptophan, and Vitamin B6 as an Inducer of Spontaneous Sleep in Children During an Auditory Response Test: An Alternative to Commonly Used Sedative Drugs

“…Several programs of universal newborn hearing screenings have been started in different geographical regions, which included hearing tests in the first days of life and before the discharge of the baby from the neonatal unit. In total, 1 in 1,000 [2] newborns at birth has a hearing loss severe enough to affect the normal language development and 1 in 4000 suffers from total deafness (profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss) [3,4] . In younger children, it is difficult to conduct the traditional audiometric examination as a successful investigation requires that the patient should lay motionless [5] .…”

Clinical aspects of hereditary hearing loss

“…For a child with prelingual severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss, the total lifetime cost of hearing loss includes special education services, medical expenses, and the purchase of assisted devices, altogether exceeding U.S. $1,000,000. 78 Thus, early screening is only the first step in a successful and costeffective program whose main goals are early diagnosis and management, language development, and long-term success after intervention.…”

Profound childhood hearing loss in a South Africa cohort: Risk profile, diagnosis and age of intervention

“…These include the lack of development of spoken language which results in restricted learning, literacy and educational achievements, as well as later employment opportunities [10,16]. Profound hearing loss also results in a considerable cost for both the child and society [16] with the costs expected to be even higher in developing countries [11].…”

“…These include the lack of development of spoken language which results in restricted learning, literacy and educational achievements, as well as later employment opportunities [10,16]. Profound hearing loss also results in a considerable cost for both the child and society [16] with the costs expected to be even higher in developing countries [11]. Early auditory stimulation during periods of maximal receptiveness is therefore critical for this population, since congenital/early onset profound hearing loss alters the functional properties of the auditory system and impairs cortical development [10,[16][17][18].…”