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Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium

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Military and Nonmilitary TBI Associations with Hearing Loss and Self-Reported Hearing Difficulty among Active-Duty Service Members and Veterans

Hughes CK, Thapa S, Theodoroff SM, Carlson KF, Schultz JD, Grush LD, Reavis KM. (2024). Military and Nonmilitary TBI Associations with Hearing Loss and Self-Reported Hearing Difficulty among Active-Duty Service Members and Veterans. Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology, 45(3), e147–e155. https://doi.org/10.1097/MAO.0000000000004103. PMID: 38361292.

Main Question

In Service Members and Veterans (SMVs), does a history of TBI increase the risk of hearing loss and hearing difficulties?

Study Findings

One out of four Service Members and 4 out of 10 Veterans self-reported a history of military or nonmilitary TBI. Veterans with military TBI had poorer hearing test thresholds in all frequency ranges. Service Members with military TBI had poorer hearing in the high frequency range. Veterans with either military or nonmilitary TBI had lower odds of correctly identifying speech in a noisy background compared to Veterans with no TBI. The association between self-reported hearing ability and objective hearing test performance was not reported.

Practical Uses

History of military TBI was associated with poorer hearing on objective tests, poorer self-reported hearing ability, and poorer hearing in nosiy areas.

When providing services to SMVs with a history of TBI, clinicians should make a referral for a hearing exam when signs or self-reporting of hearing difficulties are observed.

For more information on assessing and managing hearing loss

In an effort to provide the latest findings to our consumers as quickly as possible, some of these studies, while fully peer reviewed, have not been presented or published either electronically or in print. Findings are presented for informational purposes only and should not be cited or referenced until they are formally published or presented.

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The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 839 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work was supported by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs endorsed by the Department of Defense, through the Psychological Health/Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC) Award/W81XWH-18-PH/TBIRP-LIMBIC under Awards No. W81XWH1920067 and W81XWH-13-2-0095, and by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Awards No. I01 CX002097, I01 CX002096, I01 HX003155, I01 RX003444, I01 RX003443, I01 RX003442, I01 CX001135, I01 CX001246, I01 RX001774, I01 RX 001135, I01 RX 002076, I01 RX 001880, I01 RX 002172, I01 RX 002173, I01 RX 002171, I01 RX 002174, and I01 RX 002170. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense. / Created by VCU University Relations

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