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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hearing impairment

Healthcare Accessibility for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing: A Descriptive Study of Rural Health Care Systems
Reports on survey results from 18 hospitals associated with rural healthcare systems regarding accessibility tools for deaf or hard of hearing patients. Presents information on tools for communication, perspectives on available tools, and types of available education for healthcare workers caring for deaf and hard of hearing patients.
Author(s): Amanda Reinhart
Date: 04/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network
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QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Percentage of Adults Aged ≥65 Years Who Have a Lot of Difficulty Hearing or Cannot Hear at All Even When Using Hearing Aids, by Urbanization Level — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2019
Bar chart showing percentage of adults 65 years of age or older reporting hearing impairment, with breakdowns by large central metro, large fringe metro, medium and small metro, and nonmetropolitan areas.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 70(33), 1127
Date: 08/2021
Type: Chart/Graph
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Survey of Teen Noise Exposure and Efforts to Protect Hearing at School — United States, 2020
Examines noise exposure among youth 12-17 years of age in a school setting. Reports on frequency of exposure, provision of hearing protection devices, and whether prevention techniques were part of the curriculum. Includes data for metropolitan and nonmetro areas.
Author(s): John Eichwald, Franco Scinicariello
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(48), 1822-1826
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Hearing Norton Sound: Community Involvement in the Design of a Mixed Methods Community Randomized Trial in 15 Alaska Native Communities
Describes a community-based research project examining a telemedicine cell-phone based screening process to improve early detection and treatment of childhood hearing loss in rural Alaska. Community stakeholders assisted in shaping the research question, measurable outcomes, and project procedures. Serves as a model for community-based research in rural communities.
Author(s): Samantha Kleindienst Robler, S. Meade Inglis, Joseph J. Gallo, et al.
Citation: Research Involvement and Engagement, 6(67)
Date: 11/2020
Type: Document
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Community-based Program to Increase Use of Hearing Conservation Practices among Farm and Rural Youth: A Cluster Randomized Trial of Effectiveness
Examines the effectiveness of two interventions regarding knowledge and attitudes toward hearing conservation among farm and rural youth. Discusses the prevalence of hearing loss among farmworkers and the risks of exposure to farm noise from an early age.
Author(s): Marjorie C. McCullagh, James J. Yang, Michael A. Cohen
Citation: BMC Public Health, 20(1), 847
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
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Delayed Identification of Infants Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing — Minnesota, 2012–2016
Examines delays in diagnosis of hearing loss among Minnesota infants identified as deaf or hard of hearing. Includes data by location of patient residence and by birth hospital location for metropolitan and nonmetro areas.
Author(s): Abby C. Meyer, Melinda Marsolek, Nicole Brown, Kirsten Coverstone
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(11), 303-306
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Assessing Health and Safety Concerns and Psychological Stressors among Agricultural Workers in the U.S. Midwest
Results of a 2018 study of 540 farmers in Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, Minnesota, and Nebraska, identifying agricultural work stressors including chemical and equipment safety, finances, and health concerns such as hearing loss, respiratory problems, depression, and acute illnesses. Examines differences between mail and in-person survey modes, and compares their effectiveness in promoting farm workers' willingness to participate in the surveys. Features demographics and statistics on the types of stress experienced.
Author(s): Kanika Arora, Marsha Cheyney, Fredric Gerr, et al.
Citation: Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 26(1), 45-58
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
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Enhancing Services for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deafblind Patients in Rural America
Discusses the barriers to care that rural patients who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind face, including lack of accommodations and inadequate clinician training. Features a Michigan clinic with American Sign Language-fluent staff, a New Jersey state division providing deaf sensitivity training, and a Colorado program that brings interpreters to rural communities.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Disability in America: People with Hearing Difficulty (2017)
Displays the rate of people with hearing difficulty on the county level using data from the 2013-2017 American Community Survey (ACS).
Date: 01/2019
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities
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Hearing Norton Sound: A Community Randomised Trial Protocol to Address Childhood Hearing Loss in Rural Alaska
Profiles a study evaluating a school hearing screening and referral process to determine if it helped to improve the treatment of childhood hearing loss in rural Alaska.
Author(s): Susan D. Emmett, Samantha Kleindienst Robler, Nae-Yuh Wang, et al.
Citation: BMJ Open, 9(1), e023078
Date: 2019
Type: Document
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