What Otolaryngologists Need to Know About Working with Patients as Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids Become Available

by Jennifer Fink •

Talk with the audiologists in your area as well, and brainstorm how you can best educate and serve your local community. “It takes a village to take care of people,” Dr. Backous said. “If we do this properly, the overall savings for our country and healthcare system are going to be enormous.” 

Jennifer Fink is a freelance medical writer based in Wisconsin. 

HEARING LOSS & HEARING AIDS: BY THE NUMBERS

• Nearly 50 million Americans have treatable hearing loss.1

• Four-fifths of people with treatable hearing loss are untreated.1

• People with normal cognition and hearing loss at a threshold of 25 dB have a relative risk of 1.9% for dementia at nine to 17 years of follow up.2

• Risk of dementia increases with each additional 10 dB of hearing loss.2

• The average consumer price for a set of prescription hearing aids ranges from $900-$6,000 or more (including professional fitting fees and follow-up visits).3 

• Four manufacturers control 84% of the hearing aid market.4

 

1. Hearing Loss Association of America. “Hearing Loss Facts and Statistics.” 

2. ENTtoday. “Hearing Loss: A Modifiable Risk Factor for Dementia.” 

3. Healthline. “Summary of Hearing Aid Costs.” Kaiser Health News. “Apple, Bose and Others Pump Up the Volume on Hearing Aid Options, Filling Void Left by FDA.” The Wall Street Journal. “White House Sees Hearing Aids as Chance to Lower Prices Through More Competition.”

4. The Wall Street Journal. “White House Sees Hearing Aids as Chance to Lower Prices Through More Competition.”