Data from: Pure-tone thresholds in adults aged 18 to 97 years and hearing aid use

On an international level, estimates of the prevalence of hearing loss are often based on the criterion of the world health organization (WHO), but other criteria have also been applied. Both the prevalence of hearing loss and the number of hearing-aid fittings can be used to estimate the adoption rate, which is often regarded as being in need of improvement. To illustrate the effect of the prevalence criteria on the assessments, epidemiological data for hearing abilities in Oldenburg, Emden, and Aalen were used. The criteria were either based on the pure-tone audiogram, on speech recognition in noise, or on the subjective indication of hearing difficulties. The results showed a strong dependency of the adoption rate on the prevalence criterion. Criteria based on speech recognition in noise led to very high prevalence, but low adoption rates. Age-independent analysis resulted in similar adoption rates of approx. 25% for subjective hearing difficulties, for the common WHO criterion, and for the four-frequency-table of Röser. However, age-dependent analysis revealed large differences between the subjective indication and the criteria based on pure-tone audiometry. Overall, statements regarding the prevalence of hearing impairment and rate of hearing-aid adoption should always include the applicable criterion, and should either be viewed as age-dependent, or related to a standard population.