The Rising Cost of Auditory Injury in the Armed Forces

THE RIS ING COST OF AUDITORY INJURY IN THE ARMED FORCES 1.5 MILLION VETERANS suffer from SERVICE-CONNECTED hearing impairment 840,000 700,000 suffer from tinnitus suffer from hearing loss a414,000 of these cases are from the wars in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN2 TINNITUS & HEARING LOSS are the most common SERVICE- CONNECTED disabilities (more common than visible injuries) Nearly 100% of these injuries are PREVENTABLE THE FINANCIAL COSTS $30,000 $26,000,000,000 the COST to the COST to SOCIETY 4 INDIVIDUALS THE PER SONAL COSTS Hearing loss is linked to:5 ANXIETY IMPAIRED ACADEMIC DEPRESSION ACHIEVEMENT HEART IMPAIRED DISEASE MEMORY IMPAIRED FEELINGS OF COGNITIVE ISOLATION FUNCTION Without action, the problem WILL WORSEN Auditory injury is RISING 13-18% ANNUALLY We must act now to PROTECT our military, reduce costs and care for those who serve TWITTER.COM/DODHCE HEARING.HEALTH.MIL f FACEBOOK.COM/DODHCE НСЕ DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HEARING CENTER OF EXCELLENCE REFERENCES http://www.vba.va.gov/REPORTS/abr/2010_abr.pdf - http://www.ata.org/sites/ata.org/files/pdf/Congressional_Briefing on_Tinnitus_and_Hearing Loss.pdf a http://phb.secondsensehearing.com/content/hearing-loss-affects-income * http://www.meclatchyde.com/2012/06/18/152468/commentary-the-dollars-and-sense.html http://www.audicus.com/blogs/hearing-aids-blog/6o71732-the-multi-billion-dollar-impact-of-hearing-loss-on-us-household-income-and-the-economy s http://accperspectives.asha.org/content/6/1/9.full http://www.betterhearing.org/press/articles/Chronic_Diseases_and_hearing loss.cfm http://www.audiology.org/resources/documentlibrary/Pages/UntreatedHearingLoss.aspx * Hoffer ME., Balaban, C, Gottshall K, Balough, BJ, Maddox MR, Penta JR. Blast Exposure: Vestibular Consequences