Can your patients tell you what “normal hearing” is? Most likely they know what normal vision and blood pressure are, as that’s ingrained in us at such a young age. It’s no wonder that patients deprioritize managing their hearing health when they don’t understand what is normal and when to be concerned.
Did you know:
• Hearing loss ranks among the most prevalent and under-treated disabilities worldwide (1-3).
• In the United States, 1 in 8 adults in the United States and more than two-thirds of individuals over the age of 70, suffer from varying degrees of hearing loss (4).
• With an aging population and increasing life expectancy in Western countries, the estimated frequency of hearing loss is expected to continue to rise.
The Hearing Health Collaborative is working to establish a standard of care for hearing health in the US. To start, they must uncover why so many disregard the importance of their hearing health and the common misconceptions about treating hearing loss.
Take a look at a recent publication where 1,250 adults between the ages of 50 and 80 and their understanding of hearing loss.
REFERENCES
1. Disease GBD, Injury I, Prevalence C. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet 2016;338:1545-602.
2. Carlson ML. Cochlear Implantation in Adults. N Engl J Med 2020;382:1531–42.
3. Wilson BS, Tucci DL, Merson MH, et al. Global hearing health care: new findings and perspectives. Lancet 2017;390:2503–15.
4. Lin FR, Niparko JK, Ferrucci L. Hearing loss prevalence in the United States.
