New Guidelines on Hearing Loss in Adults

The Mount Sinai Health System, together with an international task force of 52 hearing experts, released a set of guidelines to assist in hearing care for adults. Released on World Hearing Day, the Living Guidelines list best practices for treating and diagnosing hearing loss, including assessing adults for cochlear implants.¹

“Before now, there were no international and patient-centered guidelines for hearing care and cochlear implants for adults in the United States and around the globe,” said Maura Cosetti, MD, director of the Ear Institute of New York Eye and Ear of Mount Sinai, and a member of the task force, said in a press release. “The new codified recommendations are practice changing for accurately identifying hearing loss and those who would benefit from intervention and treatment.”

According to the press release by Mount Sinai, hearing loss can lead to a decreased quality of life, along with cognitive decline, and depression. Further, according to the press release, evidence suggests that an association exists between hearing loss in older adults and neurocognitive disorders.

In the guidelines, the task force details nine recommendations that cover six key areas²:

• Hearing loss screening and assessment
• Referral
• Specialist evaluation
• Surgery
• Rehabilitation
• Patient outcomes and measures

In total, 13,000 peer-reviewed studies were used to help create the guidelines. The 52 experts—some living with hearing loss—who were a part of the 2-year research project, represented 58 organizations.

The authors noted that the guidelines will be updated as new evidence is published.

“The Lancet journal has identified hearing loss as the No. 1 modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline—far exceeding things like smoking cessation and cardiovascular fitness,” said Dr Cosetti in a press release. “We know this will make a tremendous impact on patient care and in the lives of our patients.”

References:

1. New guidelines improve care and practice standards for adults with hearing loss. News release. Mount Sinai Health System; March 3, 2023. Accessed March 16, 2023. www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2023/new-guidelines-improve-care-and-practice-standards-for-adults-with-hearing-loss
2. Holcomb M, Macías AR, Raeve, LD, et al; CI Task Force. Improving the standard of care for adults with hearing loss and the role of cochlear implantation: living guidelines; Published March 3, 2023. Accessed March 16, 2023. https://files.magicapp.org/guideline/9e0a084d-49be-4954-b92f-6c63825bd723/files/Living_Guidelines_for_cochlear_implantation_in_adults_for_public_consultation_r544083.pdf