Being able to join a conversation is a concrete stake in hearing research. A CDC summary published September 25, 2015 estimated that 21.0% of civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. adults aged 18 or older reported difficulty following conversation amid background noise in 2014. The measure counted difficulty always, usually or about half the time, rather than every moment of missed speech. [mm6605e3][mm6437a8]

A CDC report first released February 7, 2017 adds a reason not to make a confident self-description the only basis for attention. In weighted 2011–12 examination data for adults aged 20–69 in the same broad civilian, noninstitutionalized population, almost one quarter reporting excellent or good hearing had an audiometric notch. That test pattern was an imperfect proxy, not a diagnosis of the cause of each person's difficulty. [mm6605e3][mm6437a8]

For an interfaith conversation about dignity, the ethical question is how to welcome participation without requiring people to present themselves as impaired. Our reading is that an invitation to say what makes conversation easier can respect agency without assigning a medical label. This is an ethical application of the evidence, not a tested intervention or a claim that every faith tradition prescribes the same response. [mm6605e3][mm6437a8]

Nonreligious perspectives belong in that discussion too. The two CDC publications cannot establish that an accommodation improved social participation, and their different measurements cannot be merged into a single population rate. They do support humility about what another person's self-rating tells us. Dignity here means taking communication seriously while leaving diagnosis, causation and individual preferences distinct from the wish to be helpful. [mm6605e3][mm6437a8]

Source documents

  1. Vital Signs: Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Among Adults — United States 2011–2012https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6605e3.htm
  2. QuickStats: Percentage of Adults with Selected Hearing Problems, by Type of Problem and Age Group — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2014https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6437a8.htm