Prevalence of Hearing Loss and Hearing Aid Use Among Hispanic Medicare Beneficiaries 65 Years and Older

What is the prevalence of hearing loss and hearing aid use among Hispanic adults 65 years and older in the US?This cross-sectional study including 591 participants used data from the US nationally representative National Health and Aging Trends Study and found that 54.6% of adults with Hispanic heritage 65 years and older in the US had hearing loss, representing approximately 2.8 million people after weighting, and that hearing thresholds increased with age and frequency. Hearing aid use was approximately 8.3% of those with hearing loss.These results confirm the prevalence of hearing loss among Hispanic individuals, as previously reported in samples with lower Hispanic representation.

Corresponding Author: Pablo Martinez-Amezcua, MD, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe St, Room W6033, Baltimore, MD 21205 (pmarti60@jhu.edu).

Link to the article in your story

We encourage you to link out to this article in your story using the link below. It includes an access token that will give free access to the article for your readers up to one year after publication. (The link will be live after the article publishes and embargo is lifted.)

Please see the article for additional information, including full author list, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Need more information? Contact us.