One in six suffering from hearing loss

21 June 2007

Sixteen percent of adult Europeans suffer from hearing loss great enough to adversely affect their daily life, according to a new report. This is much higher than the previously generally assumed prevalence of 10 percent.

In Europe, about 71 million adults aged 18 to 80 years have a hearing loss greater than 25 dB, the definition of hearing impairment recognised by the World Health Organisation, WHO. In the EU alone, the number of people with hearing loss is more than 55 million.

The data on hearing loss in Europe is reported in Hear-it AISBL's survey, “Evaluation of the Social and Economic Costs of Hearing Impairment”.

According to the report, just one in six of those who could benefit from using hearing aids is being treated with hearing aids.

Numerous scientific surveys show that the satisfaction among hearing aid users is high, and several studies have concluded that the use of hearing aids causes significant improvement in the quality of life.

 Hearing aids: advice & support

Source: Hear-it AISBL press release
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