Skip main navigation

Military Health System

Hurricane Milton & Hurricane Helene

Emergency procedures are in place in multiple states due to Hurricane Milton & Hurricane Helene. >>Learn More

The Military is Reporting Far Fewer Hearing Problems

Image of Soldiers wear hearing protection while firing an M3 multi-role anti-armor antipersonnel weapon system during live-fire training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Sept. 15, 2021. . Soldiers wear hearing protection while firing an M3 multi-role anti-armor antipersonnel weapon system during live-fire training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Sept. 15, 2021.

Hearing loss in the Department of Defense continues to decrease for service members and civilians enrolled in hearing conservation programs, according to a recent report from the Defense Health Agency Hearing Center of Excellence.

The Hearing Health Surveillance Data Review, Military Hearing Conservation Report for fiscal year 2020 indicates an overall decreasing trend of hearing impairment for all service components.

According to Dr. Theresa Schulz, HCE prevention branch chief, data show the number of hearing impaired service members fell from 18% in 2013 to 14.5% in 2020. Report findings also reveal the percent of noise-exposed civilians with hearing impairment continues to show a gradual decrease over the last several years. The percent of noise-exposed civilians with hearing impairment decreased from 46.1% in FY13 to 39.3% in fiscal year 2020.

Reducing hearing loss is a centerpiece of DOD's policy to protect military personnel and noise-exposed civilians from hearing loss caused by occupational and operational noise exposure through a continuing, effective, and comprehensive hearing conservation program. The policy also strives to reduce hazardous occupational and operational noise exposure to enhance mission readiness, communication, and safety.

Those enrolled in a hearing conservation program get annual hearing tests, hearing protection fittings, and hearing conservation education sessions to reduce noise-induced hearing loss, according to Schulz. "These educational opportunities are important touch-points for achieving hearing readiness," she said.

Schulz emphasized how hearing readiness remains a critical component of ongoing hearing conservation efforts administered by the service components. "Hearing readiness is a process to ensure service members have the necessary hearing capability and properly fitted hearing protection devices for mission readiness and deployment," she said.

Schulz noted each DOD component establishes, maintains, and evaluates the effectiveness of their own respective hearing conservation programs, which vary by service component.

"There are differences in how each service manages their programs," explained Schulz. "The Army and Marine Corps take a total force approach and provide annual hearing tests to all service members, while the Air Force and Navy conduct annual hearing tests on service members who are routinely exposed to hazardous noise."

The report consolidated measures of effectiveness from all service components, and reviewed service level efforts to prevent hearing loss and improve hearing health of those enrolled in DOD hearing conservation programs. Report data was jointly developed by the DOD Hearing Conservation Working Group; the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Public Health and Preventive Medicine Department, Epidemiology Consult Service Division; and the DHA Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch, Air Force Satellite at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

According to Schulz, hearing impairment can be further reduced by implementing the Comprehensive Hearing Health Program, developed by HCE. "This is a triad approach conducted by each service to educate, protect, and monitor service members and civilians who are routinely exposed to hazardous noise. Together with hearing conservation programs we will hopefully continue to see declining hearing loss across the DOD," she said.

Read the full report.

You also may be interested in...

Article
Aug 1, 2023

Case Report: Complicated Urinary Tract Infection Due to an Extensively Resistant Escherichia coli in a Returning Traveler

This article presents the medical case report of a 76-year-old man who returned to the U.S. following overseas travel and was admitted at Hawai'i's Tri­pler Army Medical Center with a complicated urinary tract infection due to an extensively resistant strain of E. coli.

Article Around MHS
Jul 25, 2023

Defense Public Health Experts Investigate If Minority Group Service Members are More Likely to Experience Behavioral Health Problems

A recent Department of Defense study found American Indian and Alaska Native U.S. Army Soldiers had higher rates of suicidal ideation than white soldiers. The DOD is investigating behavioral health disparities among minority groups in the military to see how they might mirror similar disparities in the civilian population. (Graphic illustration: Steven Basso, Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen)

U.S. public health agencies such as the National Institute of Mental Health have recognized that certain minority groups appear to experience greater risk for certain behavioral health disorders. The higher rates of adverse health problems in minority groups are often referred to as “disparities.”

Report
Jun 1, 2023

MSMR Vol. 30 No. 6 - June 2023

.PDF | 1.55 MB

This annual issue quantifies the impacts of various illnesses and injuries in 2022 among members of the active component of the U.S. Armed Forces as well as the U.S. Coast Guard; health care burden metrics include the total number of medical encounters, including hospitalizations and ambulatory services, as well as numbers and types of individuals ...

Article
Jun 1, 2023

Absolute and Relative Morbidity Burdens Attributable to Various Illnesses and Injuries Among Active Component Members, U.S. Armed Forces, 2022

This annual summary uses several health care burden measures to quantify the impacts of various illnesses and injuries in 2022 among members of the active component of the U.S. Armed Forces. Health care burden metrics include the total number of medical encounters, individuals affected, and hospital bed days.

Article
Jun 1, 2023

Absolute and Relative Morbidity Burdens Attributable to Various Illnesses and Injuries Among Active Component Members, U.S. Coast Guard, 2022

This report employs the same disease classification system and health care burden measures as employed in the MSMR burden analysis of the U.S. Armed Forces active component to quantify the impacts of various illnesses and injuries among members of the active component of the U.S. Coast Guard in 2022.

Article Around MHS
May 30, 2023

Navy Expeditionary Medical Unit Rotations Provide Ongoing Support in the Middle East

U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Freeman Morrison, a biomedical technician, left, and U.S. Navy Lt. j. g. Andrew Mappus, an emergency room nurse, right, assigned to Navy Expeditionary Medical Unit 10- Gulf, Rotation 13, are monitoring an U.S. Army Medic Task Force Buckeye, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, as he draws blood from an soldier on Dec. 20. (Photo by U.S. Navy Capt. Jerrol Walla)

The 30-member team conducted enhanced shore-based activities at Erbil Air Base in Iraq, where they provided life, limb, and eyesight-saving care to the U.S. armed forces, Department of Defense, civilian contractors, and multi-national coalition forces. They also provided critical support to facilities in the Eastern Syria Security Area.

Skip subpage navigation
Refine your search
Last Updated: July 11, 2023
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery