30% of older Chileans have a hearing loss
In a Chilean study, 30.4% of Chilean people aged 60 years and older reported some degree of hearing loss when asked about their hearing. The participants in the study were asked to rate their hearing capacity as very good, good, fair, poor or very poor.
Expanding the study to the whole Chilean population aged 60 years and above, means that 504,581 older adults in Chile would have some degree of hearing loss.
Use of hearing aids
Among the participants who reported a fair or worse hearing level, 8.9% wore hearing aids. The proportion of hearing aid users increased to 21.5% among older adults who reported their hearing as poor or very poor.
Hearing aids were used by 3% of participants aged between 60 and 69 years, who said that they had a hearing loss. In the age group 70-79 years, 6.94% of participants with hearing loss said that they used hearing aids. Among participants 80 years and older with hearing loss, 18.9% used hearing aids.
About the study
The study was based on data from a survey using a representative sample of 4,766 Chilean older adults aged 60 years and older.
The article about the study "Prevalence and associated factors of hearing aid use among older adults in Chile" was published in International Journal of Audiology.
Source: International Journal of Audiology