Hearing Aid - Some Statistics from Dr. Phlum

(Year 230, Fall) The Mazaloom Hospital keeps detailed statistics of various medical diseases as well as minor physical defects, and this includes the use of Hearing Aid equipment. Dr. Lucille C. Phlum leads the work and agreed to share some info on this subject.

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Dr. Lucille (Carrington) Phlum (68) has been working with Medicine most of her life. 29 years ago she was employed at Mazaloom Hospital, and she is currently involved with plans to improve the network of regional health stations.

- Our ears are like our eyes, she explains. - They normally serve us through most of our life, but in some cases they need medical attention. You can go through life without seeing clearly. It would of course include no more car driving, probably no more visits to the movie theatres and you would give up on your favorite TV-series. And, you would most likely no longer be able to tell a Vampire from a Human, either, if you ran into one. The toughest consequence would most likely be quitting your job. Thanks to glasses you can live on like before. Thanks to hearing aid you can hear everything, once again.

It means the difference between functioning optimal and functioning only inside a restricted radius of life that might become smaller and smaller. No conversation methods can beat the old fashioned talking and hearing.

Some statistics

Hearing aids have been around for a while, and in Mazaloom kingdom we have statistics covering at least ten years. Some choose to use the aid daily, others might need them but not use them, but they are still numbers in our statistics. It's useful for us to learn how these numbers might adjust over the decades, based on both life stage and location.

Compared to other nations, Mazaloom has a rather high percentage of residents in need of hearing aid. 11,3% would benefit from this medical aid. This includes the elders who will often need various aids in their final yeas.

Only by learning about the reasons, we can try to reduce this numbers. It is normally a matter of genetics - which can't be done much about, but there are also cases where damage is environmental like working with noisy machines or listening too loud music over time.

We don't know yet why our numbers are much higher than similar numbers from the Empire of Snorthia, where they reported only 9,7%. Kingdom of Sea never reported anything on this.

Breaking down the numbers

I was investigating whether our rather high numbers are caused by certain regions, and it actually turned out that the district of Gloomville contributes with 19,0% with Oasis Springs coming 2nd with 13,5%. Why Gloomville has more residents in need of hearing aid is a mystery, but we see this kind of medical defect will often follow family DNA, and some of the Gloomville families affected do indeed include many individuals. In addition most cases are reported from the poor quarter, where industry might provide constant background noise.

Dr. Lucille C. Phlum currently serves at Mazaloom Hospital.

In a City like San Myshuno one should expect general street noise level to serve us high numbers - and they do, but 11,7% is only slightly above the total for the entire kingdom, and far below Gloomville.

Industrial noise can't be the full explanation though. If we look to the very silent district of Hollow, most likely the more quiet district of the entire kingdom, we find they contribute with 15,4%! A colleague suggested it could relate to nightly noise from bats, but I have my doubt...

Of all districts, we find the lowest percentage in Newcrest. Only 3,3% of the population there would currently benefit from hearing aid.

One ear or both ears?

Most of the affected citizens will need aid on one side only. If one or both parents are/were affected, it gets more likely that both sides are more or less defect. Or if the case is consulted late in life.

Many get aware of their reduced hearing ability when they get introduced to a brand new environment, such as starting school. While mostly staying at home, routines are so well established that poorly working ears or eyes can often be ignored. You don't need to hear all the sounds to navigate your everyday, and other household members might already talk clear and loudly. When watching a TV-show, it might be no big deal to relay on subtitles. It takes high Parenting skills to discover a child's special need.

I'm happy to state that it is becoming more common to introduce children to hearing aid as early as toddler stage. These children will of course feel less lonely and gain skills more easily. Riding their bicycle in the street get safer when they can hear the street sounds. With the soon to come health stations I think it will become even easier to handle these needs early in life. Which is good news, although our statistics might get a solid boost, too...