1. 28 million people in North America have sensorineural hearing loss.
2. Only 5-6 million have ever sought treatment.
3. The North American population is aging, and senior age brackets are growing as a percentage of the total.
4. Lifestyle choices are increasing the occurrence of hearing loss.

Clinical studies
National Council on Aging (NCOA) (Hearing Review, January 2000)

Participants
2304 adults with hearing impairment (50% used hearing aids)
2090 friends and family of the participants with hearing loss

Overview of Results

Hearing aid users (compared to peers with untreated hearing loss):
Are more likely to participate in social activities with others.
Report better relationships with significant others.
Report significantly lower levels of anger frustration.
Report significantly lower levels of depression and fewer symptoms of paranoia or embarrassment.

Individuals with untreated hearing loss:
Overcompensate for their hearing loss by pretending to hear or by talking too much to hide or cover up their hearing loss. 
Report higher levels of depression, embarrassment, anxiety, anger or frustration than those who wear hearing aid instruments.

Friends and family members:
Worry about their loved one’s safety or the safety of others.
Find their friends/family members happier and more sociable when wearing hearing amplification than before its use.

Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders Trial Study (JAMA, October 11, 2000)

Participants:
360 patients with sensorineural hearing loss

Conclusions:
Participants showed significant hearing improvement in aided versus unaided conditions.
Significant benefits observed in both quiet and noisy situations.
Corrective amplification improved quality of speech for soft and conversational speech levels without significantly degrading the overall quality of listening to loud speech.
Corrective amplification significantly reduced the frequency of problems encountered in verbal communication.

Advantages of wearing two hearing aids (Binaural Hearing)

Increased ability to localize sounds
1. Hear better in the car as either a driver or passenger
2. Hear from all directions without moving head around
3. Sounds are more balanced

Better understanding of speech in noise
1. Hear better in social situations
2. Hear better in small groups
3. Hear better in meetings
4. Hear better in restaurants

Less tiring to listen in noisy situations
1. Feel less fatigued and stressed
2. Loud sounds become more tolerable due to compression in each ear

Improved quality sound
1. Less distortion and better reproduction of amplified sounds
2. Better quality of speech, music, male and female voices

Elimination of the head shadow effect
1. Binaural hearing aid users always have a “good” ear toward the speaker

Binaural summation
1. Hearing is better when both ears receive the signal than when it is delivered to just one ear
2. May prevent further degeneration of the residual hearing in your unaided ear

Facts about hearing loss

Hearing impairment is the 3rd most common chronic problem affecting the aging population and one of the least diagnosed. Approximately 10% of the general population, 20% of those over 65 and 40% of those over 75 have a significant hearing loss.

The effect of hearing loss

Hearing loss is an invisible disability. People whose hearing is impaired live in a world where others, including their families, expect them to hear normally. Patients with hearing loss may find themselves ridiculed, ignored, or the constant target of anger from family and friends. The detrimental effect of hearing loss in the work place is obvious.

Trying to cope as if nothing was wrong is a normal reaction for patients suffering from hearing loss. It places them under a great deal of stress. Patients’ energy is taxed because they must constantly monitor whether they are speaking too softly or too loudly. They must strain to hear conversation and frequently depend upon speech reading. The consequence of this is that patients with hearing loss eventually decide that they can no longer tolerate social activities. Patients may withdraw, first from friends and later from their families.

Hearing loss in children can have a very significant long term impact on speech and language development. Children’s hearing can now be evaluated at a very early age.