Skip to content
American Academy of Audiology
  • PRACTICE RESOURCES
    • Practice Guidelines and Standards
    • Coding
    • Medicare/Medicaid
    • Compliance
    • Quality Payment Program
  • EDUCATION & EVENTS
    • Event Calendar
    • Continuing Education
    • Online Learning and Certificate Programs
    • Research Grants and Scholarships
    • Faculty and Preceptor Resources
  • AAA ANNUAL CONVENTION
    • Attend
      • Registration
      • Hotel Information
      • Travel Information
      • Child Care Options
    • Program and Events
      • Call for Abstracts
    • Exhibit Hall
    • Exhibit and Sponsorship Opportunities
      • Exhibitor Information
      • Become an Exhibitor
      • Become a Sponsor or Partner
      • Sponsors and Partners
    • About
  • NEWS & PUBLICATIONS
    • News
      • News from the Academy
      • Audiology in the News
      • Academy in the News
    • Audiology Today
    • Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
    • Advertising
    • Press and Media Information
  • CAREERS
    • Career Center
    • Certification
    • Become an Audiologist
    • Doctoral Programs in Audiology
    • Recruiting
    • New Professional Toolkit
  • ADVOCACY
    • Legislative and Regulatory Activities
      • State Affairs
      • Federal Affairs
    • Legislative Action Center
    • Government Relations News
    • Public Awareness
  • CONSUMERS
    • What Is an Audiologist
    • Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions
    • Managing Hearing Loss
    • Seniors and Hearing Loss
    • Children and Hearing Loss
    • OTC Hearing Aid
  • ABOUT THE ACADEMY
    • Leadership
    • Committees and Task Forces
    • Get Involved
    • Honors and Awards
    • Sponsorships and Corporate Partners
    • Contact Us
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • Benefits
    • Membership Renewals
    • Member Directory
    • Ethics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinYoutubeInstagram
  • Students
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • Renew
American Academy of Audiology
Member Login
  • PRACTICE RESOURCES
    • Practice Guidelines and Standards
    • Coding
    • Medicare/Medicaid
    • Compliance
    • Quality Payment Program
  • EDUCATION & EVENTS
    • Event Calendar
    • Continuing Education
    • Online Learning and Certificate Programs
    • Research Grants and Scholarships
    • Faculty and Preceptor Resources
  • AAA ANNUAL CONVENTION
    • Attend
      • Registration
      • Hotel Information
      • Travel Information
      • Child Care Options
    • Program and Events
      • Call for Abstracts
    • Exhibit Hall
    • Exhibit and Sponsorship Opportunities
      • Exhibitor Information
      • Become an Exhibitor
      • Become a Sponsor or Partner
      • Sponsors and Partners
    • About
  • NEWS & PUBLICATIONS
    • News
      • News from the Academy
      • Audiology in the News
      • Academy in the News
    • Audiology Today
    • Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
    • Advertising
    • Press and Media Information
  • CAREERS
    • Career Center
    • Certification
    • Become an Audiologist
    • Doctoral Programs in Audiology
    • Recruiting
    • New Professional Toolkit
  • ADVOCACY
    • Legislative and Regulatory Activities
      • State Affairs
      • Federal Affairs
    • Legislative Action Center
    • Government Relations News
    • Public Awareness
  • CONSUMERS
    • What Is an Audiologist
    • Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions
    • Managing Hearing Loss
    • Seniors and Hearing Loss
    • Children and Hearing Loss
    • OTC Hearing Aid
  • ABOUT THE ACADEMY
    • Leadership
    • Committees and Task Forces
    • Get Involved
    • Honors and Awards
    • Sponsorships and Corporate Partners
    • Contact Us
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • Benefits
    • Membership Renewals
    • Member Directory
    • Ethics
March 28, 2022

Hearing Difficulty Experienced by Adults in the United States

  • Audiology in the News

Hearing aids are commonly offered as a means to help individuals with hearing loss ameliorate their hearing difficulties. Madans, Weeks, and Elgaddal (2021), using data from the 2019 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), examined hearing aid use by those 45 years of age and older as well as reported hearing difficulties by all adults 18 years and older even when using a hearing aid.

These authors reported that around 15 percent of adults (aged 18 years and older) had difficulty hearing even with the use of a hearing aid, with a higher percentage of older adults reporting difficulty than younger adults.

When examining hearing difficulties reported by those aged 45 years and older, a higher percentage of men than women reported difficulty hearing.

Less than 10 percent of individuals aged 45 years and older reported using a hearing aid. When examining hearing aid use by this age group, a greater percentage of men than women used hearing aids and a greater percentage of individuals aged 65 years and older used hearing aids than those between the ages of 45 and 64 years.

While this data brief mentions that hearing difficulty varied as a function of race/ethnicity and age by those 45 years and older, hearing aid use as a function of race/ethnicity was not provided in the report.

Read the full data report

Reference

Madans JH, Weeks JD, Elgaddal N. (2021) Hearing difficulties among adults: United States, 2019. NCHS Data Brief, no 414. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. DOI:10.15620/cdc:107540.

Share this

Related Posts

Using Supply and Demand to Identify Shortages in the Hearing Health Care Professional Workforce

Hearing Loss Linked to Lower Income in Young Adults

Tympanoplasty in Children: A Retrospective Study

Recent Posts

Audiology in the News

Using Supply and Demand to Identify Shortages in the Hearing Health Care Professional Workforce

Garuccio, Ukert, and Arnold (2025) analyzed changes in the hearing healthcare (HHC) workforce between 2012 and 2022. They also identified areas that had a shortage…

Read More
Audiology in the News

Hearing Loss Linked to Lower Income in Young Adults

Hearing loss, as well as tinnitus, has been correlated with socioeconomic factors such as reduced income and unemployment (Nadler, 2023). This correlation is even more impactful…

Read More
Audiology in the News

Tympanoplasty in Children: A Retrospective Study

The purpose of a tympanoplasty is to repair a hole in a tympanic membrane (TM). An important functional outcome of this surgery is to improve…

Read More
wave-mark

Join the Academy

Academy members receive many benefits for professional development, practice management, and community development.

Become a Member
COMM24-Academy_Website_Graphics-revised_logo(W)

American Academy of Audiology
11480 Commerce Park Drive
Suite 220
Reston, VA 20191

Tel: 703-790-8466
Fax: 703-790-8631

  • Practice Resources
  • Education and Events
  • News and Publications
  • Careers
  • Advocacy
  • About the Academy
  • Consumers and Patients
  • Students
  • Donate
  • Get Involved
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Antitrust Policy and Guidelines
  • Terms of Use Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Sitemap

© Copyright 2025 American Academy of Audiology

Website by Yoko Co

This content is an exclusive benefit for American Academy of Audiology members.

If you’re a member, log in and you’ll get immediate access.

 

Member Login

 

If you’re not yet a member, you’ll be interested to know that joining not only gives you access to top-notch resources like this one, but also invitations to member-only events, inclusion in the member directory, participation in professional forums, and access to patient resources, tools, and continuing education. Join today!

Scroll To Top
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. To learn more, please see our Privacy Policy.