Hearing loss

Figures indicate that one out of seven individuals does not have perfect hearing and one out of ten hears so poorly that a hearing instrument would help.

Studies (Maastricht report on hearing impairment, 1999) also underline the fact that only a minority - less than 14% in the EU - of those for whom a hearing instrument would be beneficial actually use one.

The degree of hearing loss varies from person to person

Between the two extremes of hearing well and hearing nothing, there are many degrees of impairment. The terms used to describe the degree of hearing loss are mild, moderate, severe and profound. Most hearing losses are mild to moderate.

What does the degree of hearing loss mean?

Mild hearing loss:
unable to hear soft sounds, difficulty understanding speech clearly in noisy environments.

Moderate hearing loss:
unable to hear soft and moderately loud sounds, considerable difficulty understanding speech, particularly with background noise.

Severe hearing loss:
some loud sounds are audible but verbal communication without a hearing instrument is impossible.

Profound hearing loss:
some extremely loud sounds are audible but verbal communication without a hearing instrument is impossible.

Did you know that one out of ten people has a hearing loss and could benefit from using hearing instruments? Nobody knows the exact number of hearing-impaired people in the world, but experts estimate that the figure is about 500 million. The personal consequences of untreated hearing loss are far-reaching which also means that the costs to society are high.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People estimates that 6.5 per cent of the working population are hard of hearing. The survey also shows that ear protectors are seldom used.
A survey in the USA shows that the percentage of hearing-impaired people who use hearing instruments is actually declining.
The Danish Institute for Social Research has prepared a report which finds that 13 per cent of the Danish adult population have hearing problems.

Reports show that when people wear hearing instruments there are improvements to their quality of life. Some of those benefits reported are:

Better relationships with their families
Better feelings about themselves / higher self-esteem
Improved mental health
Greater independence and security

More than half of the users reported improvement in their domestic relationships and in their level of self-esteem. About 40% said that their lives had improved in general, that they felt better mentally and they had a higher degree of self-confidence.

Read more about these facts & figures on http://www.hear-it.org/.