Table.
Prevalence and Number of Individuals in the United States with Hearing Loss, NHANES 2001–2008, n = 7490
| Prevalence of Hearing Lossa > 25dB (Bilateral) % (95% CI)b | Prevalence of Hearing Lossa > 25dB (Bilateral &Unilateral) % (95% CI) b | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Race/Ethnicityc | Total | Total | ||||||
| Age, years | Female | Male | White | Black | Hispanic | Overall Prevalence | Number with Hearing Loss, millions | Overall Prevalence | Number with Hearing Loss, millions |
| 12–19 | 0.42 (0–0.91) | 0.20 (0–0.41) | 0.26 (0–0.66) | 0.48 (0.11–0.85) | 0.43 (0.04–0.82) | 0.31 (0.04–0.57) | 0.10 | 2.3 (1.5–3.1) | 0.76 |
| 20–29 | 0.35 (0–0.79) | 0.48 (0–1.4) | 0.43 (0–1.3) | 0.63 (0–1.9) | 0.35 (0–0.90) | 0.42 (0–0.97) | 0.16 | 3.2 (1.4–5.1) | 1.2 |
| 30–39 | 0.79 (0–1.8) | 2.5 (0.14–4.9) | 1.8 (0–3.8) | 1.7 (0–3.9) | 1.6 (0.22–3.1) | 1.6 (0.23–3.1) | 0.68 | 5.4 (3.3–7.6) | 2.3 |
| 40–49 | 4.5 (0.94–8.1) | 8.7 (5.0–12.4) | 7.4 (4.5–10.3) | 1.3 (0–3.3) | 7.3 (2.0–12.5) | 6.5 (4.1–8.8) | 2.8 | 12.9 (9.8–15.9) | 5.6 |
| 50–59 | 6.1 (3.6–8.6) | 20.3 (14.5–26.2) | 14.5 (9.9–19.2) | 7.1 (3.0–11.2) | 13.8 (6.4–21.2) | 13.1 (9.4–16.8) | 4.4 | 28.5 (23.3–33.7) | 9.6 |
| 60–69 | 16.8 (12.1–21.5) | 39.2 (31.7–46.8) | 26.6 (21.1–32.1) | 15.9 (9.8–22.1) | 28.9 (17.0–40.8) | 26.8 (22.3–31.4) | 5.7 | 44.9 (40.9–48.9) | 9.5 |
| 70–79 | 48.5 (38.5–58.5) | 63.4 (56.2–70.5) | 55.8 (47.6–63.9) | 39.0 (26.2–51.7) | 66.8 (52.3–81.2) | 55.1 (48.0–62.2) | 8.8 | 68.1 (61.2–75.1) | 10.8 |
| 80+ | 75.6 (69.7–81.5) | 84.6 (79.0–90.3) | 81.5 (78.5–84.5) | 54.8 (40.6–69.0) | 60.7 (34.8–86.6) | 79.1 (76.0–82.2) | 7.3 | 89.1 (86.1–92.0) | 8.3 |
| Estimated Total Number of Individuals with Hearing Loss, millions | 30.0d | 48.1 | |||||||
a
Hearing defined by the average of hearing thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz tones presented by air-conduction.
b
All values represent percent prevalence except for the column titled “Number with hearing loss, millions” which represents the number of prevalent cases.
c
Prevalence estimates by race/ethnicity are only presented for the three largest racial/ethnic groups. Individuals from all racial/ethnic groups are included in the overall prevalence.
d
Numbers do not sum to group total because of rounding.