Hearing Thresholds for Unscreened U.S. Adults: Data From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2012, 2015-2016, and 2017-2020.
Larry E Humes
PMID 36919308WHAT IT FOUND
Current hearing norms for U.S. adults are slightly better than the ISO 1999 standard used in noise-induced hearing loss claims.
Men and older adults have worse hearing, and Black adults have better hearing than White adults. Use these updated values for accurate assessment.
Key findings
01Median hearing thresholds in this recent U.S. sample were slightly better than the ISO 1999 (2013) standard values, particularly for men at 4,000 and 6,000 Hz.
02Non-Hispanic Black adults had better hearing thresholds than Non-Hispanic White adults at frequencies above 2,000 Hz, with the gap widening with age.
03New equations allow estimation of median hearing thresholds for men and women aged 25 to 85 years, filling a gap in the standard which stops at age 70.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Hearing thresholds for the oldest group (80+ years) at high frequencies (3,000–8,000 Hz) may be underestimated because values beyond the audiometer's limit were coded as 126 dB HL. The ISO 1999 standard uses a 'better ear' definition based on the minimum threshold at each frequency separately, which differs from the common clinical practice of averaging four frequencies for one ear. The data is cross-sectional, so it reflects hearing status at a single point in time for different people, not how hearing changes within individuals over time.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA). No commercial conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not apply these updated norms to individuals who are not part of the general U.S. adult population, such as those with known ototoxic exposure or specific medical conditions, as this study describes 'unscreened' typical hearing, not healthy hearing.