Intellectual Disabilities and Hearing Loss: Undetected, Un-served, Under-treated

Persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) also frequently experience significant hearing loss that is difficult to detect without annual hearing evaluations. This poster session reports outcome results of 2401 individuals with ID tested at 3 large Special Olympics (SO) events worldwide. Ear exam and hearing test findings for 755 athletes with ID from the 2004 SO Germany National Games, and 893 athletes from the 2005 SO International Winter Games (Nagano, Japan) and 753 athletes from the 2006 USA National Games are displayed. Results indicate that 36% to 53% of SO athletes exhibited excessive ear canal cerumen, and 18% to 38% showed pure tone threshold hearing losses. Depending upon the SO event, athletes revealed sensorineural hearing losses ranging from 4% to 21%. The extent of conductive/mixed losses of these athletes ranged from 6% to 17% across events. The presence of sensorineural and conductive/mixed losses of these athletes was essentially undetected previously. Further, the rates of these types of loss are greater than found in the general population. Overall impressions from these findings indicate that individuals with ID require: regular ear canal hygiene care; at least yearly medical examinations and treatment as needed for middle ear problems; and annual audiological evaluations and interventions as necessary. Undetected, un-served and under-treated ear and hearing problems of individuals with ID should exist no longer.