Hearing Loss: Self‐Reported Onset and Etiology Among Older Adults in the United States

TL;DR

This study explores when and why older U.S. adults report hearing loss, finding that aging is the most common cause.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the age of onset and causes of hearing loss in a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults.

Findings

51.1% of older adults self-reported hearing loss.

Aging was the most common cause of hearing loss, reported by 66.3% of those affected.

The most common age of onset was 70 or older, reported by 41.7% of respondents.

Abstract

This study investigated self‐reported age of onset and etiology of hearing loss among older adults in the United States. Study cohort included older adult (≥70 years) survey respondents from the 2017 to 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 797). Overall, 51.1% [95% confidence interval [CI]: 46.1‐56.1] of older adults self‐reported hearing loss. Among older adults who reported hearing loss, the most reported age of onset was age 70 or older (41.7% [95% CI: 38.1%‐45.3%]), followed by sequentially younger age brackets including ages 60 to 69 years (27.3% [95% CI: 23.6%‐31.3%]) and ages 40 to 59 years (15.7% [95% CI: 12.9%‐19.0%]). The most common etiology of hearing loss was aging (66.3% [95% CI: 60.8%‐71.4%]) followed by loud long‐term noise (30.3% [95% CI: 26.2%‐34.9%]) and loud brief noise (13.8% [95% CI: 10.3%‐18.4%]). Our study describes the most common age of onset and etiologies of hearing loss among a representative sample of United States older adults.

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