Rehabilitation for hearing disorder

Abstract

Modern rehabilitation medicine has been widely introduced in Japan over the last 60 years and has become increasingly socially important. Originally (since the war), it was indicated for patients with dismemberment, spinal cord injury, poliomyelitis, or cerebral palsy. However, in the recent context of declining birth rates and an aging population, it has come to be indicated for patients with stroke, dysphagia, speech disorder, and so on. Rehabilitation has been developed for disorders that cannot be treated by conventional medical care through diagnosis and treatment based on etiology, pathology, and disease mechanisms. It is difficult to demonstrate scientific evidence of treatment techniques equivalent to therapeutic effects. Therefore, this aspect is qualitatively different from general medical practice. In the field of hearing disorders, diagnostic techniques for hearing loss, hearing aid devices, cochlea implants, and hearing support devices have progressed through recent technological advancements. Consequently, provision of comprehensive rehabilitation has come to be increasingly required, such as early detection of infantile deafness, utilization of artificial cochlea, and hearing supportive services for the elderly. In this review, hearing disorder is defined according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health by the World Health Organization. We show an outline of rehabilitation for hearing disorders.