Attrition of U.S. military enlistees with waivers for hearing deficiency, 1995-2004

Background: Hearing deficiency is the condition for which accession medical waivers are most commonly granted. The retention of individuals entering service with a waiver for hearing deficiency has not been previously studied. Methods: Military retention among new enlistees with a medical waiver for hearing deficiency was compared with that among a matched comparison group of fully qualified enlistees. Comparisons according to branch of service over the first 3 years of service were performed with the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method and proportional-hazards model. Results: Army subjects had significantly lower retention rates than did their fully qualified counterparts. In the adjusted model, Army and Navy enlistees with a waiver for hearing deficiency had a significantly lower likelihood of retention than did their matched counterparts. Discussion: The increased likelihood of medical attrition in enlistees with a waiver for hearing loss provides no evidence to make the hearing accession standard more lenient and validates a selective hearing loss waiver policy.