Abstract
Objective: To report a robust measure of the proportion of adults who do not use their hearing aids.
Design: Data on hearing aid use was extracted from national household survey data, from 2004 to 2018 in Wales, UK.
Study sample: A representative sample of 10,000 to 16,000 adults per year.
Results: Self-reported hearing difficulty increased smoothly from 14 to 16% during the 12 years when survey administration remained unchanged. The proportion reporting that they had tried a hearing aid increased from 5 to 7% and stabilised at this level since 2011. The proportion who reported using their hearing aid most of the time increased from 47% to 52% during the 15 year period. The proportion who did not use their hearing aids at all decreased from 21% to 18% over the same period.
Conclusions: In this extensively-surveyed population, approximately 20% of adults currently do not use their hearing aids at all, 30% use them some of the time and the remaining 50% most of the time. Hearing aids are valued by many, as judged by use, but there is substantial room for improvement. Inclusion of questions on use within a large-scale, regular national survey enables collection of demonstrably reliable data.
Design: Data on hearing aid use was extracted from national household survey data, from 2004 to 2018 in Wales, UK.
Study sample: A representative sample of 10,000 to 16,000 adults per year.
Results: Self-reported hearing difficulty increased smoothly from 14 to 16% during the 12 years when survey administration remained unchanged. The proportion reporting that they had tried a hearing aid increased from 5 to 7% and stabilised at this level since 2011. The proportion who reported using their hearing aid most of the time increased from 47% to 52% during the 15 year period. The proportion who did not use their hearing aids at all decreased from 21% to 18% over the same period.
Conclusions: In this extensively-surveyed population, approximately 20% of adults currently do not use their hearing aids at all, 30% use them some of the time and the remaining 50% most of the time. Hearing aids are valued by many, as judged by use, but there is substantial room for improvement. Inclusion of questions on use within a large-scale, regular national survey enables collection of demonstrably reliable data.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | International Journal of Audiology |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 13 May 2020 |
Keywords
- hearing aids
- use
- non-use
- difficulty
- Survey
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Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD)
Munro, K. (PI), Millman, R. (PI), Lamb, W. (Support team), Dawes, P. (PI), Plack, C. (PI), Stone, M. (PI), Kluk-De Kort, K. (PI), Moore, D. (PI), Morton, C. (PI), Prendergast, G. (PI), Couth, S. (PI), Schlittenlacher, J. (PI), Chilton, H. (PI), Visram, A. (Researcher), Dillon, H. (PI), Guest, H. (Researcher), Heinrich, A. (PI), Jackson, I. (Researcher), Littlejohn, J. (Researcher), Jones, L. (PI), Lough, M. (Researcher), Morgan, R. (Researcher), Perugia, E. (Researcher), Roughley, A. (Researcher), Whiston, H. (Researcher), Wright, C. (Support team), Saunders, G. (PI), Kelly, C. (PI), Cross, H. (Researcher), Loughran, M. (Researcher), Hoseinabadi, R. (PI) & Vercammen, C. (PI)
Project: Research