Statistics

Hearing Loss Statistics and Demographics

"One of six Americans has a communication disorder. The personal, social, and economic costs that accompany these disorders are significant for millions of Americans."

James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D.
Director, NIDCD

According to the NCHS, as of 1994 4.5 million Americans - a small percentage of the total number with hearing loss - were using assistive technology to help them deal with hearing impairments. Of these, the most commonly used device is the hearing aid, and the least common "device" is an interpreter.

While most people with hearing loss are older folks who have lost hearing with age, approximately 12 out of every 1,000 persons with hearing impairment is under 18 years of age, based on the most recently available NCHS statistics. That means that the chances are excellent that at least one student in your child's school will have a hearing loss.

Table 10 lists the labor force status of deaf and hard-of-hearing adults. Of the approximately 8 million deaf and hard-of-hearing adults who were employed at the time of the survey, 29% listed their occupation as "professional and managerial," 34% listed it as "sales, service, and administrative support," and 37% listed it as "other."

Table 10. Estimate of labor force participation of adult population who have hearing impairments by age group, U.S., 1990-91 (N=19,327,000).

Source: National Center for health statistics, data from the National Health Interview Survey Series 10, Number 188, Table 5, 1994.

Of the estimated 19 million deaf and hard-of-hearing adults in the U.S., 33.7% report that their loss is due to some sort of noise (Table 12). Another 28% report that their loss is due to age, while 17.1% report that it is due to infection or injury. Only 4.4% report the presence of hearing loss at birth.

Source: National Center for health statistics, data from the National Health Interview Survey Series 10, Number 188, Table 16, 1994.

So what does this all say?

• About 2 to 4 of every 1,000 people in the United States have a severe or profound hearing loss (have become deaf at some point in their lives). At least half of these people became deaf relatively late in life; about 1 out of every 1,000 people in the United States became deaf before 18 years of age.
• However, if people with a severe hearing impairment, but not likely to be deaf, are included then the number is 4 to 8 times higher. That is, anywhere from 9 to 34 out of every 1,000 people have a severe hearing impairment or are deaf. Again, at least half of these people lost their hearing after 64 years of age.
• Finally, if everyone who has any kind of "trouble" with their hearing is included then anywhere from 38 to 140 out of every 1,000 people in the United States have some kind of hearing loss. And yet again, almost half of these people are at least 65 years old.

Hearing Loss Statistics

• Hearing loss is the number one disability in the world.
• Hearing loss is the most preventable disability in the world.
• Number of people who need hearing aids: 25 million
• Number of people who own hearing aids: 5 million
• 15 of every 1000 people under age 18 have a hearing loss.
• Nearly 90% of people over age 80 have a hearing loss.
• The hearing aid is the second most widely used assistive technological device after the walking cane.
• 3 out of 100 school children are affected by hearing impairment.
• Barry Manilow was recently sued for giving a concert-goer a noise-induced hearing loss.
• He settled the suit by donating $5,000 to the American Tinnitus Association.
• Percentage of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who are hearing-impaired: 60%
• Former President Ronald Reagan incurred a noise-induced hearing loss from firing pistols in the movies.
• Etiology:
  • Noise: 33.7%
  • Age: 28%
  • Infection or injury: 17.1%
  • Birth: 4.4%



• The famous Siamese twins, Cheng and Eng, who toured the U.S. in the 50s, had a "trilateral" (3 out of 4 ears) hearing loss due to noise exposure during hunting.
• Percentage of people who lose their hearing before age 3: 5.4%
• Percentage of people who lose their hearing between 3 and 18: 14.2%
• Percentage of people who lose their hearing at age 19 and over: 76.3%
• Every seven seconds, a baby boomer turns 50.
• As a result of the aging population, between 1990 and 2050 the number of hearing-impaired Americans will increase at a faster rate than the total U.S. population.
  
  Source: bhNews listerve
  
• About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing. 9 out of every 10 children who are born deaf are born to parents who can hear.
• Ten million Americans have suffered irreversible noise induced hearing loss, and 30 million more are exposed to dangerous noise levels each day.
• Only 1 out of 5 people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wears one.
• Three out of 4 children experience ear infection (otitis media) by the time they are 3 years old.
• At least 12 million Americans have tinnitus. Of these, at least 1 million experience it so severely that it interferes with their daily activities.
• Approximately 59,000 people worldwide have received cochlear implants. About 250,000 people would be good candidates for a cochlear implant. In the United States, about 13,000 adults and nearly 10,000 children have cochlear implants.
• Approximately 4,000 new cases of sudden deafness occur each year in the United States. Hearing loss affects only 1 ear in 9 out of 10 people who experience sudden deafness. Only 10 to 15 percent of patients with sudden deafness know what caused their loss.
• Approximately 615,000 individuals have been diagnosed with Ménière's disease in the United States. Another 45,500 are newly diagnosed each year.
• Approximately 3 to 6 percent of all deaf children and perhaps another 3 to 6 percent of hard-of-hearing children have Usher syndrome. In developed countries such as the United States, about 4 babies in every 100,000 births have Usher syndrome.
• One out of every 100,000 individuals per year develops an acoustic neurinoma (vestibular schwannoma).