Survey overview
EuroTrak Germany 2009 was designed and conducted by Anovum on behalf of the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA). The study included a representative screening sample of 14,185 people and detailed interviews with 1,308 people with self-reported hearing loss, comprising 503 hearing aid owners and 805 non-owners.
Hearing loss and adoption
In EuroTrak Germany 2009, 13.1% of the total population reported hearing loss, rising to 15.1% among adults aged 18 and over.
Hearing aid adoption was 31.8% among people with self-reported hearing loss and also 31.8% among adults with hearing loss. Among hearing aid owners, 60% had binaural treatment. Bilateral hearing loss was reported by 75% of hearing aid owners and 57% of non-owners.
Route to hearing care
Among people with self-reported hearing loss, 77% had discussed their hearing loss with an ENT doctor and/or family doctor.
Professional and personal advice played an important role in hearing aid uptake. Among owners, worsening hearing loss, advice from an ENT specialist or hearing aid acoustician, and encouragement from a spouse, relative, child or friend were among the most important reported influences on obtaining a hearing aid.
Hearing aid use and satisfaction
Hearing aids were worn for an average of 7.7 hours per day. More than half of currently owned hearing aids had been purchased in 2007 or later, and the average age of devices was 3.4 years.
Overall, 73% of hearing aid owners were satisfied with their devices. Satisfaction increased with longer daily wearing time and was higher for hearing aids purchased from 2007 onwards. Satisfaction with hearing aid acousticians was also generally high, ranging from 75% to 80% across the measures reported.
Users reported particularly positive effects on communication effectiveness and sense of safety. Remaining challenges included hearing in noisy situations, telephone use and conversations in large groups, as well as value for money and battery life.
Reimbursement and awareness
79% of hearing aid owners received some form of third-party reimbursement.
Among non-owners, 61% did not know whether insurance would contribute to the cost of hearing aids, while 9% believed that it would not. Only 30% believed that some or all of the cost would be covered.
Barriers to adoption
Among non-owners in the top 50% hearing-loss group (n=273), the survey concluded that important barriers were believing they could still hear well enough, concerns that hearing aids did not work sufficiently well, and discomfort. The detailed results also show concerns about performance in noisy situations and expectations that hearing aids should restore hearing to normal.
Among hearing aid owners, 5% did not use their devices. The main reasons were believing that hearing aids did not restore hearing to normal, feeling they could hear well enough in most situations and poor performance in noisy environments.
10% of non-owners intended to obtain a hearing aid within the following year. For non-owners, the strongest potential influences included worsening hearing loss and ENT advice; price, encouragement from significant others, advice from a hearing aid acoustician and improved financial circumstances were also important.
Overall, EuroTrak Germany 2009 shows 31.8% hearing aid adoption, substantial daily use and generally high satisfaction among owners. Perceived need, expectations of hearing-aid performance, comfort and limited awareness of insurance coverage remained important barriers among non-owners.
Source: Anovum – EuroTrak Germany 2009.
