ORIGINAL ARTICLES
IMAJ | volume 28
Journal 6, June 2026
pages: 348-351
Prevalence of Hearing Impairment Among Young Adults
1 Israeli Air Force Aeromedical Center, Israel Defense Forces, Ramat Gan, Israel
2 Department of Military Medicine and "Tzameret", Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
3 Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Hadassah Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
4 Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson Campus), Petah Tikva, Israel
5 Adelson School of Medicine, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
6 Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Summary
Background:
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a prevalent hearing impairment, second only to age-related hearing loss. A change in the listening habits of adolescents may have contributed to the documented increase of hearing impairments in that age group.
Objectives:
To examine the prevalence of NIHL among healthy young adults.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective study to examine audiograms of healthy candidates for the Israeli Air Force flight academy between 2018 and 2023. Hearing tests were performed by an expert audiologist using an audiometer.
Results:
A total of 1940 audiograms were analyzed. The age range of the patients was 17–19 years. Using the British Society of Audiology classification, 174 (8.97%) audiograms and 313 frequencies were classified as impaired. The 8 kHz was the most affected frequency, accounting for 116 cases (37%).
Conclusions:
Hearing impairment prevalence increased from 1% at entry into the education system to 8.45% at the end, respectively. Detecting hearing impairments early may minimize future disability and may reduce future disability and rehabilitation costs. Hearing screens for young adults due to the change in listening habits of adolescents may prove useful.