LT Kim Kehoe
Introduction: All military applicants are screened for hearing loss with audiometric testing prior to accession. Despite this objective test, over 80 recruits are discharged from the military a year for hearing loss conditions that existed prior to service (EPTS).
Methods: A retrospective case series of active duty recruits from all services with an EPTS discharge due to hearing loss from 1998-2000 was performed. Of the 262 cases that qualified for inclusion, 240 medical records were available for review. Data was gathered about standard demographic variables, audiometric patterns, location of the medical entrance physical station (MEPS), and basic training (BCT) site.
Results: It was found that recruits in this study were more likely to be older, male, white, less educated, and have lower aptitude test scores than the general recruit accession population. The majority of the cases were classified as noise-induced hearing loss (59.6%). Audiometric testing performed at the MEPS stations was not automated or consistent from station to station. In addition, only 4 of the 9 BCT sites were doing universal audiometric testing as a part of recruit in processing. The BCT sites that were doing universal screening had higher numbers of EPTS discharges for hearing loss than th those t at were not.
Conclusions: This study presents evidence that audiometric testing varies between MEPS and BCT sites. The result is that recruits with preexisting hearing loss are accessed onto active duty for basic training and then discharged. This is a loss in both human and fiscal resources and limits military readiness. Premature attrition due to hearing loss can be prevented by making audiometric testing at MEPS standardized and automated, and by performing universal audiometric testing at all BCT sites.