One in eight Italians say they have a hearing loss
The EuroTrak Italy 2022 survey on hearing loss and the use of hearing aids in Italy shows that 12.5% of all Italians think they have hearing loss. Among adult Italians, more than 14% say they have a hearing loss.
Earlier EuroTrak Italy surveys have been carried out in 2015 and 2018. In the surveys, the number of people who say they have a hearing loss has been relatively stable.
Increase in the use of hearing aids
The number of people with hearing loss who use hearing aids has increased in the last 4 years. In the EuroTrak Italy 2022 survey, the number of people who say they have a hearing loss and use hearing aids has risen to 35.2%. In the previous survey, EuroTrak Italy 2018, the figure was 29.5%. In the 2015 survey, only 25,2% of those who had a hearing loss used hearing aids.
In Italy, 55% of those who use hearing aids use two hearing aids, according to the survey.
Many benefits of hearing aids
The survey found that there are significant positive impacts of using hearing aids on different aspects of life. Especially communication effectiveness, social life, ability to participate in group activities and self-confidence improved with the use of hearing aids.
Furthermore, hearing aids were also believed to have a positive impact in the workplace.
The survey also found that hearing aid owners have a lower risk of being depressed, that quality of sleep seems to improve when people with hearing loss use hearing aids and that hearing aid owners are less exhausted in the evening compared to non-owners.
In the survey, 66% of all hearing aid owners said that they should have gotten their hearing aids sooner. The main reason for this was missing out on social life.
Hearing tests
In the survey, 30% of the participants had a hearing test in the last 5 years. Most of the tests were carried out by ENTs.
Receiving hearing aids
64% of all hearing aid owners received some kind of 3rd party reimbursement. Only 24% of the those who said they had a hearing loss who did not use hearing aids thought that a third party would pay for any part of the hearing aids.
About the survey
EuroTrak Italy 2022 was designed and executed by the Swiss analysis firm Anovum on behalf of the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA). The survey consisted of around 15,200 interviews.
Source: www.ehima.com