02/10/2015: Hearing Screening for Life movement in the UK

There is a considerable interest in the scientific community regarding the impact of hearing deficits in the quality of life  for adults > 65 y. There is a movement in the UK called "Hearing Screening for life" , which aims at informing the general public and the British government about hearing issues in the elderly life. Screening in this context is not the same as it is for the neonatal population (OAEs, ABR etc), but it follows standard audiological paradigms (pure tone testing, immitance tympanometry etc).

Data from the UK movement suggest the following: "A recent cost-benefit analysis found that hearing screening would cost an estimated £255 million over ten years, but the benefits across this period would amount to over £2 billion . A proactive introduction of hearing screening will have a host of follow on benefits and will echo the government’s focus on prevention and early intervention".