According to a new report from Brunel University in London, people who treat their hearing loss with hearing aids or other hearing solutions such as implants are happier, healthier and wealthier, with a better overall quality of life than people who do not treat their hearing loss. This scientific report “Hearing Loss – Numbers and Costs” by Professor Emerita Bridget Shield, Brunel University in London with the assistance of Professor Mark Atherton, Brunel University, London finds that people who treat their hearing loss are higher earners at work than non users, have better mental health, physical health and a richer social life.
Earnings and employment
The report finds that hearing aid users earn significantly more than non-users. The differential between the two groups increases with the severity of the hearing loss and unemployment rates for non-users are approximately twice those of hearing aid users. There is considerable evidence that people with hearing loss earn, on average, significantly less than people with normal hearing. People with an untreated hearing loss experience higher unemployment rates than people without hearing loss. The employment rate among people with hearing loss of working age is 83% of the employment rate among the population in general. Early retirement among people with a disabling hearing loss and less demanding jobs also means that the average income of people with hearing loss is below that of people with normal hearing.
Quality of life
The report documents that people with an untreated hearing loss experience lower quality of life. This includes having lower confidence in social and personal situations, physical health and mental health. The more severe the untreated hearing loss, the greater the loss in quality of life.
Using a hearing aid can significantly improve the quality of your family communication. Hearing difficulties can frequently trigger feelings of isolation, frustration, and resentment and lead to the sufferer withdrawing and becoming more introverted. Uncertainty and unpredictability can make social outings stressful for those with hearing loss. But studies show that both young and old hearing impaired people experience much higher levels of confidence and social engagement when wearing hearing aids.
Ultimately this strain on communication and confidence effects your mental and consequentially, physical health. There is no longer any doubt; hearing loss can make you two to five times more likely to suffer from dementia and other forms of mental decline. Hearing aids may help slow the changes in the brain and keep you mentally alert and active.
We also now know that hearing loss is linked with much higher rates of diabetes as well as being associated with heart conditions. Hearing loss also affects your balance making you much more prone to falls.
Modern hearing aids can help restore your sense of balance and help you get through each day without the tiredness.
Cost to society
The report also documents that for society as a whole, untreated disabling hearing loss means lost productivity, economic losses due to lower quality of life and an increased burden on social benefits such as unemployment benefits and pensions as well as increased health care costs due to comorbidities such as depression and cognitive decline and more hospitalizations in general.
Treating hearing loss is cost-efficient
All in all, people who treat their hearing loss are happier, healthier and wealthier, with a better overall quality of life, than hearing-impaired people who do not use hearing aids or other hearing solutions. These are some of the findings of the report “Hearing Loss – Numbers and Costs”, published by hear-it AISBL.
“There are so many benefits of treating a hearing loss that I can only recommended that if you have a hearing loss you should start wearing hearing aids or implants. And if you think you might have a hearing loss my best advice is to have a hearing test,” says secretary general Kim Ruberg, hear-it AISBL.
Neighborhood Hearing Aid Center
Treating hearing loss with hearing aids or other hearing solutions is very cost-efficient. Compared to the costs of an untreated disabling hearing loss, both for the individual and the society, the treatment of hearing loss becomes a very reasonable price to pay for health and happiness. Contact us at Neighborhood Hearing Aid Center to set up a hearing test. We can help you find the hearing aids that best suit your needs for a healthy life.