First published 08 March 2022
In the EuroTrak Belgium 2021 survey, 9.4% of the participants say they have a hearing loss. 34% of the Belgians who say they have a hearing loss use hearing aids.
EuroTrak Belgium 2021, shows that 9.4% of all the people in Belgium say they have a hearing loss. Among adults above the age of 18, more than 11% say they have a hearing loss. The figures are quite similar to the figures found in the other EuroTrak surveys carried out in a series of European countries including Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy.
The number of people in Belgium who say they have a hearing loss is quite stable. The recent survey, EuroTrak Belgium 2017, showed that 9.6% of all people in Belgium said they had a hearing loss.
Among people in Belgium aged 65-74, around one in five (19%) say they have a hearing loss. In the age group above 74, one in three say they have a hearing loss (33%).
Increase in the use of hearing aids
The survey showed that the percentage of people with a hearing loss who use hearing aids has gone up from 30.7% in 2017 to 33.6% in 2021, which is an increase of 10% in four years. The percentage of people who use two hearing aids (binaural fitting) has also gone up from 80% in 2017 to 83% in 2021.
Positive impacts on life
The survey shows that the use of hearing aids has a significant positive impact on different aspects of life. Especially communication effectiveness, the ability to participate in group activities and social life improve with hearing aids.
97% of hearing aid owners in the survey declared that their hearing aids improve their quality of life in some way.
In the survey, quality of sleep seems to improve if you use hearing aids. Hearing aid owners also have a lower risk of being depressed and feel less exhausted in the evenings.
57% of all hearing aid owners in the survey said that they should have gotten their hearing aids sooner. The main reason for this was missing out on social life without hearing aids.
Hearing aids help at work
Hearing aids are also believed to have a positive impact at work. 95% of working hearing aid owners in the survey state their hearing aids are useful in the workplace. People with hearing aids also recognise that hearing aids increase the chance of being getting promoted, getting the right job and getting a higher salary.
Hearing test
In the survey, 32% of the participants had a hearing test within the last 5 years. Most of the tests were carried out by ENTs.
Reimbursement
82% of the participants in the survey who use hearing aids received some form of 3rd party reimbursement. On the other hand, among hard of hearing non-owners, only 31% knew whether a 3rd party such as the government or insurance would pay any part of the hearing aids.
About the survey
The EHIMA EuroTrak Belgium 2021 survey was carried out in cooperation with the Swiss analysis firm Anovum. Nearly 14,500 people participated in the survey.
Source: www.ehima.com
