Hearing loss associated with the aging process, presbycusis, involves all things that lead to hearing loss in elderly people. Presbycusis commonly affects an individual’s ability to understand speech in noisy environments, process acoustic information, and localize sound sources. A large proportion of the elderly population over seventy years and older suffer from presbycusis (Lin, Thorpe, Gordan-Salant, & Ferrucci, 2011). The elderly population is at a high risk of developing a hearing loss. The loss of hearing affects the elderly’s life in many modalities. Research on genetic associations is not reliable; most research in this particular area is based on personal accounts rather than fact. Gates, Couropmitree, and Myers (1999) investigated the inheritance rates of age related hearing loss (presbycusis); they discovered that hearing sensitivity is more alike for biologically related people. These …show more content…
The quality of life may be reduced which presents new issues. Communication is affected by an individual’s ability to hear, which likely affects those trying to communicate with the individual as well. Failure to communicate may lead to frustration, loneliness, and isolation (Ciorba, Bianchini, Pelucchi, & Pastore, 2012). Dalton, Cruickshanks, Klein, B, Klein, R, Wiley, and Nondahl investigated how hearing loss affected the quality of life in many older adults; hearing loss should not be dismissed has unimportant because the quality of life is also being reduced. Hearing loss is a common condition among older adults, and should not be overlooked or dismissed. Arlinger (2003) suggested “The reduced ability to detect sounds may affect sounds such as those of doorbells or telephones, traffic sounds that may signal immediate danger, and sounds of importance for quality of life, such as music or bird song” (p.17), which impinges the quality of life for those elders suffering from a hearing