Cerumen impaction. Prevalence and detection in nursing homes.

1. Many people, including health care professionals, believe that hearing loss is a normal part of aging and that little can be done to improve older adults' hearing. If the staff and physicians believe that hearing loss among nursing home residents is expected due to advanced age, then the likelihood of further evaluation of hearing impairments is minimal. 2. Hearing loss is a serious health problem among the elderly. Social isolation, depression, acting out inappropriately, and paranoia have been related to impaired hearing. Cerumen impaction is a reversible, frequently overlooked cause of a conductive hearing loss. 3. Twenty-five percent of nursing home residents were found to have impacted cerumen. One of the nursing homes in the study differed from the others because no residents had cerumen impaction. This was the only home that employed two nurses who had specialty preparation in gerontological nursing. If that home had been excluded, the impaction rate would have been 34%.