Hearing Aids for Adults With Mild to Moderate Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is defined as an impaired ability to hear sounds at thresholds considered to be normal. Projections based on audiometric data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey estimate that by 2030, approximately 55 million US adults will have hearing loss, including 35 million with mild loss (25-40 dB) and nearly 20 million with moderate or greater loss (>40 dB).1 The most common cause of hearing loss among hearing aid users is bilateral sensorineural hearing loss due to cochlear hair cell or auditory nerve degeneration. Functional effects of hearing loss differ with severity. Mild hearing loss may affect the ability to understand speech in noisy environments; moderate or greater hearing loss affects the ability to have individual conversations in a quiet room.