Listening Can Be Exhausting Work
Hearing Journal:
doi: 10.1097/01.HJ.0000465741.63770.2a
Journal Club
McCreery, Ryan PhD
Clinicians frequently hear about fatigue experienced by their school-age pediatric patients with hearing loss. Parents often report that their children with hearing loss seem to become exhausted by activities that involve intensive listening, particularly during school. Children with hearing loss may say they feel overly tired at the end of a busy day compared with their peers who have normal hearing. These challenges can place children with hearing loss at a greater risk of academic difficulties and even long-term health problems.
In contrast to the ubiquity of these experiences among children seen in the clinic, the scientific evidence about the mechanisms behind listening fatigue and potential solutions for this problem have been limited, until recently. Researchers at Vanderbilt University have undertaken a large study to help shed light on fatigue in children with hearing loss.
Dr. McCreery is associate director of audiology and staff scientist at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, NE.
