Hearing Loss Facts
Did you Know...?
The deaf and hard-of-hearing account for the single largest group of disabled people in America. Of the more than 49 million disabled, at least 28 million have a significant hearing impairment that interferes with communication. 28 million adds up to more than all those suffering from heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, blindness, tuberculosis, venereal disease and kidney disease combined.

Of the 28 million, more than half (15 million) is under the age of 45.

60% of people with hearing loss are between the ages of 21 and 65.

The incidence of hearing problems among Americans increased by almost 54 percent between the early 1970s and the early 1990s.

Between 1990 and 2050, the number of people with hearing and speech impairments will increase at a faster rate than the total U.S. population as a direct result of the aging of the U.S. population and our love of power tools, boom boxes and motorized garden and recreation equipment.

Unable to follow the conversation of two or more people talking at the same time or if there is "white noise" in the background, people with hearing loss stop going to live events.

People with hearing loss wait an average of seven years before seeking help.
Only 9.7 % of people age 65 and older have normal hearing; only 78 % of people over 55 have normal hearing.

Hearing aids do not benefit everyone who has a hearing loss.

75 percent of people who could benefit from hearing aids are not using them.

Hearing loss cannot be restored by hearing aids in the same way that wearing corrective lenses restores eyesight.

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