Patients

Hearing Loss Facts

The following facts about hearing loss were retrieved from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) website.

Hearing Loss Across the Lifespan

Approximately 2 to 3 of every 1,000 newborn children in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. And more than 90 percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents.

Age is the strongest predictor of hearing loss in adults aged 20-69. About 2 percent of adults aged 45 to 54 have disabling hearing loss. The rate increases to 8.5 percent for adults aged 55 to 64. Nearly 25 percent of those aged 65 to 74 and 50 percent of those who are 75 and older have disabling hearing loss.

Hearing Loss and Gender

Men are almost twice as likely as women to have hearing loss among adults aged 20-69.

Hearing Loss in the United States

One in eight people in the United States (13 percent, or 30 million) aged 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears, based on standard hearing examinations.

Hearing Loss and Technology

Among adults aged 70 and older with hearing loss who could benefit from hearing aids, fewer than one in three (30 percent) has ever used them. Even fewer adults aged 20 to 69 (approximately 16 percent) who could benefit from wearing hearing aids have ever used them.