First published 10 September 2019

12.3% of adults in New Zealand say that they have a hearing loss. 41.6% use hearing aids, according to the survey New Zealand Trak 2018.

The New Zealand Trak 2018 survey on hearing loss and the use of hearing aids in New Zealand shows that 12.3% of adult New Zealanders think they have hearing loss. Among all New Zealanders, including those under 18 years of age, 10.1 % say that they have a hearing loss.

The figure is a bit higher than similar surveys in Europe in the recent years, where the average was 10% – or one in ten – of adults reporting that they think they have a hearing loss.

Use of hearing aids

In the survey, 41.6% of those who said they have a hearing loss said that they used hearing aids. 78% of all hearing aid users in New Zealand use two hearing aids.

95% of the hearing aid owners in the survey declared that their hearing aids improved their quality of life all of the time or some of the time. Especially communication effectiveness and the ability to participate in group activities improve with hearing aids. In the survey, hearing aids were also believed to have a positive impact on the job and improve sleep.

Hearing tests

38% of the participants in the survey said that they had had a hearing test within the last five years, most of the tests were carried out by an audiologist or an audiometrist.

Reimbursement

46% of those with hearing aids in New Zealand had received some kind of 3rd party reimbursement. 58% of those received funding from the ACC in New Zealand.

About the survey

The New Zealand Trak 2018 was designed and carried out by the Swiss analysis firm Anovum on behalf of the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA). The survey consisted of around 16,000 interviews.

Source: www.ehima.com