Peter studied hearing aid fitting at the world headquarters of Starkey Labs. He was able to have hands on training with the company’s founder, Bill Austin. He has also undergone advanced training in the smallest, nearly invisible style hearing aids, and has expanded his education by traveling to Denmark to learn directly from European hearing aid manufacturers. He continues to attend conferences and training seminars to stay current on the rapidly evolving world of hearing aid technology.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that worldwide, 430 million adults and 34 million children are affected by hearing loss, making up over 5% of the total population. However, the way that the world is progressing, WHO estimates that this number will nearly double in the next 30 years. By 2050 they project that over 700 million people –one in every ten people – will have disabling hearing loss. While the effects of this are still being understood, a recent study found that the global cost of hearing loss is greater than expected.
The Impact of Hearing Loss
The effects of hearing loss are commonly underestimated. What starts as an issue with ears quickly starts to affect communication and mobility. For starters, the most common cause of hearing loss, sensorineural, is caused by exposure to loud sounds, certain medications, chemical exposure, impact to the head, or repeated infections, and is permanent. This leaves people with lasting and progressively worse communication issues as years progress.
What starts as the loss of some tones or pitches quickly causes the listener affected to strain to fill in the blanks. This not only causes reserve cognitive energy to be funneled towards listening but leaves people feeling exhausted after even small social interactions. As a result, often people with unaddressed hearing loss shy away from social situations altogether. Personal and professional relationships are strained and self-esteem and self-confidence both take a major setback often never recovered from. Over time this can cause a higher likeliness of cognitive decline, higher risk of falls, and a reduced sense of mobility. Generally, a person’s entire quality of life is affected when hearing loss is not properly addressed and diagnosed.
Research on Global Costs of Hearing Loss
There are many ways that hearing loss adds up to affect our global economy. There is the cost of medical bills, loss of income due to unaddressed hearing loss, connected health conditions, educational support, and treatment to support a decreased quality of life. According to a recent study conducted by the London School of Economics in 2019, this global economic impact of hearing loss exceeds $981 billion! Published in the International Journal of Audiology, this study involved analyzing costs that accumulated because of hearing loss. Using data from an international pool based on the 2019 Goblaj Burden of Disease study which included findings from around 7,000, spanning 156 countries.
Sourcing the Cost of Hearing Loss
Besides discovering that the conglomerative cost of hearing loss equaled $981 billion in 2019:
- 47% of the cost of 9 $461 billion was attributed to a loss in quality of life. This includes the cost of addressing social isolation, communication difficulties, and stigma in people living with hearing loss.
- 32% of costs ($314 billion) were attributed to the cost of addressing health conditions furthered by hearing loss, such as dementia, falls, depression, and more.
- 19% of costs ($186 billion) were attributed to a loss in productivity in the workplace. When people struggle with hearing, accidents are more likely to occur in manual labor working environments and misunderstanding can take their toll in offices and out in the field.
- 2-3% of costs ($20 billion) were attributed to accommodations in educational settings, such as translators and computer programs to support the learning of the hearing impaired globally.
The research concluded that while these numbers were staggering, interventions such as more emphasis on hearing protection and global standards which would limit the level of sound in technology and institutions could keep this global cost from continuing to rise. From their findings, they theorized that even a 5% reduction of the total population with hearing loss could reduce costs by $49 billion.
Treating Hearing Loss
The important thing to understand is that while hearing loss is permanent, it can be treated effectively using hearing aids. These electronic devices act as amplifiers when worn in or near the ear canal. They can be programmed to amplify only the specific tones or pitches determined from a personalized audiogram. However, of those who could benefit from using them, only 20% in the US have ever even tried them. Hearing aids however can reduce loss of earnings, improve success in school, and start to heal relationships that have become strained due to years of impeded communication. The first step is to schedule a hearing exam today and join the world fight against hearing loss now!