First published 30 January 2023

When asked, 8.8% of all the people in the UK say they have a hearing loss. Among adult aged 18 years or older, 10.5% say they have a hearing loss according to the EuroTrak UK 2022 survey.

The EuroTrak UK 2022 survey on hearing loss and the use of hearing aids in the UK shows that nearly 9% of Britons think they have hearing loss. Among adult Britons, more than 10% say they have a hearing loss.

The EuroTrak UK surveys have been carried out regularly since 2009. In the surveys, the number of people who say they have a hearing loss has been relatively stable.

Increase in the use of hearing aids

The number of people with hearing loss who use hearing aids has increased in the last 4 years.  In this recent survey, the number of people who say they have a hearing loss and use hearing aids has risen to 52.8%. In the last survey, EuroTrak UK 2018, the figure was 47.6%. In 2015, only 42.4% of those who had a hearing loss used hearing aids.

In the UK, nearly 2 out of 3 of those who use hearing aids use two hearing aids (62%), according to the survey.

Many benefits of hearing aids

The survey found that there are significant positive impacts of the use of hearing aids on different aspects of life. Especially communication effectiveness, social life, ability to participate in group activities and self-confidence improved with the use of hearing aids.

Furthermore, hearing aids were also believed to have a positive impact on the job.

The survey also found that hearing aid owners have a lower risk of being depressed, that quality of sleep seems to improve when people with hearing loss use hearing aids and that hearing aid owners are less exhausted in the evening compared to non-owners.

In the survey, 66% of all hearing aid owners said that they should have gotten their hearing aids sooner. The main reason for this was missing out on social life.

Hearing tests

In the survey, 29% of the participants had a hearing test in the last 5 years. Most of the tests were carried out by ENTs.

Receiving hearing aids

71% of the hearing aid owners in the survey received a free of charge NHS hearing instrument. 27% got their hearing aids from the private sector. A majority of people with hearing loss without hearing aids did not know whether a third party would pay any part of their hearing aids.

About the survey

EuroTrak UK 2022 was designed and executed by the Swiss analysis firm Anovum on behalf of the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA). The survey consisted of around 15,500 interviews.

Source: www.ehima.com