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Health Disparities Statistics
VISION AND HEARING
GOAL
Improve the visual and hearing health of the Nation through prevention, early detection,
treatment, and rehabilitation.
OVERVIEW
Among the five senses, people depend on vision and hearing to provide the primary cues
for conducting the basic activities of daily life. At the most basic level, vision and hearing
permit people to navigate and to stay oriented within their environment. These senses
provide the portals for language, whether spoken, signed, or read. They are critical to
most work and recreation and allow people to interact more fully. For these reasons,
vision and hearing are defining elements of the quality of life. Either, or both, of these
senses may be diminished or lost because of heredity, aging, injury, or disease. Such
loss may occur gradually, over the course of a lifetime, or traumatically in an instant.
Conditions of vision or hearing loss that are linked with chronic and disabling diseases
pose additional challenges for patients and their families.
From the public health perspective, the prevention of either the initial impairment or
additional impairment from these environmentally orienting and socially connecting
senses requires significant resources. Prevention of vision or hearing loss or their
resulting disabling conditions through the development of improved disease prevention,
detection, or treatment methods or more effective rehabilitative strategies must remain a
priority.
VISION
ISSUES AND TRENDS
Estimates of the number of persons in the United States Virgin Islands with visual
impairment tend to be high due to the high incidence of diabetes in the general
population. As in the nation, the leading causes of visual impairment in the territory are
diabetic retinopathy, cataracts and glaucoma. Additionally, the territory experiences a
high incidence of myopia. Cataracts, glaucoma and myopia are hereditary in nature, thus
early screening and annual screening are important measures in the efforts to identify and
correct those conditions in the population. Also, the high exposure to sunlight and
increasing use of computers and video games at early ages are thought to be major
contributing factors to the levels of visual impairment overall.
OPPORTUNITIES
Early detection and treatment can reduce blindness and visual impairment from most eye
diseases and disorders. Regular vision examinations, starting at an early age, are one of
the best defenses against these diseases. In the territory, children enrolled in Head Start
Programs must receive eye screening as part of their annual medical examinations. This
practice needs to be expanded to all children in the territory. Further, as with many other
public health concerns, health education programs can play a key role in reaching highrisk
groups. The inclusion of vision in public health education messages can benefit the
entire population and help the agencies seeking to provide quality health care to their
clients.
OBJECTIVES
HEARING
ISSUES AND TRENDS
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Newborn and Infant
Hearing, significant bilateral hearing loss is present in approximately 1 to 3 per 1000
newborn infants in the well baby nursery population, and 2 to 4 per 1000 in the intensive
care unit population. In the United States Virgin Islands, approximately 1800 children are
born annually. In 1996, a survey of 696 children with special health care needs was
conducted. Of the 395 families surveyed on the island district of St. Thomas, 11%
reported hearing impairment as a major diagnosis. The Virgin Islands has a significant
percentage of high-risk infants, with 8-9 percent of live births being of low birth weight.
Estimates of the prevalence of hearing impairment in the general population are not
available. However, the universal newborn screening program has been in existence
since 1997. To date, 96% of all newborns in the territory receive hearing screening.
Twenty percent (20%) of infants screened on the island of St. Croix failed testing and
must be referred for additional care.
Noise induced hearing loss is generally thought to be on the rise, though no data currently
exist in the territory to support this alarming national trend. The increased use of personal
listening devises such as personal music disc players, exposure to industry noise
pollution (particular concern on the island of St. Croix) and the hereditary nature of some
hearing problems all impact the hearing health of the general population.
OPPORTUNITIES
The local health care agencies must continue the universal newborn hearing screening
and intervention program, since early detection is one of the most effective mechanisms
available to reduce the impact of hearing loss. Additionally, public health messages must
be directed to persons at increased risk for noise induced hearing loss, particularly those
who work in the heavy industries.
OBJECTIVES
Source: United States Virgin Islands Healthy Virgin Islands 2010
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