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. 2022 Jun 1;5(6):e2217633.
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.17633.

Prevalence of Hearing Loss and Hearing Aid Use Among Adults in France in the CONSTANCES Study

Quentin Lisan  1   2 , Marcel Goldberg  3 , Ghizlene Lahlou  4   5 , Anna Ozguler  3 , Sylvie Lemonnier  3 , Xavier Jouven  2   6 , Marie Zins  3 , Jean-Philippe Empana  2
Affiliations

Prevalence of Hearing Loss and Hearing Aid Use Among Adults in France in the CONSTANCES Study

Quentin Lisan et al. JAMA Netw Open. .

Erratum in

  • Error in Figure 1B.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Jul 1;5(7):e2225053. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.25053. JAMA Netw Open. 2022. PMID: 35838677 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Importance: Although hearing loss is common in the population worldwide, the prevalence of hearing loss and hearing aid use is not known.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of hearing loss and hearing aid use in the adult French population.

Design, setting, and participants: This cohort study used data from the CONSTANCES cohort, a representative sample of the French population. Volunteers aged 18 to 75 years were recruited at 21 preventive health centers between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019. The present study included participants with audiometric data.

Main outcomes and measures: The main outcomes were prevalence of hearing loss and disabling hearing loss overall and by sex and age group and prevalence of self-reported hearing aid use among those with disabling hearing loss. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average (PTA) in the better ear of 20 dB or higher, and disabling hearing loss was defined as a PTA in the better ear of 35 dB or higher.

Results: Of 200 870 participants in the CONSTANCES study, 186 460 had full audiometric data and were included in this study (mean [SD] age, 47.1 [13.5] years); 100 330 (53.8%) were female, and 86 130 (46.2%) were male. Of these participants, 24.8% (95% CI, 24.6%-25.0%) had hearing loss and 4.3% (95% CI, 4.2%-4.4%) had disabling hearing loss. The prevalence rates of hearing loss increased from 3.4% (95% CI, 2.8%-3.9%) at age 18 to 25 years to 73.3% (95% CI, 69.5%-77.2%) at age 71 to 75 years among men and from 4.4% (95% CI, 3.9%-5.0%) at age 18 to 25 years to 64.1% (95% CI, 59.7%-68.4%) at age 71 to 75 years among women. The prevalence of disabling hearing loss increased from 0.3% (95% CI, 0.2%-0.4%) among participants aged 18 to 25 years to 23.3% (95% CI, 20.7%-26.0%) among participants aged 71 to 75 years. Among the 8050 participants with disabling hearing loss, 36.8% (95% CI, 35.8%-37.9%) reported using hearing aids, including 56.7% (95% CI, 38.9%-74.4%) aged 18 to 25 years and 32.9% (95% CI, 26.8%-39.2%) aged 71 to 75 years.

Conclusions and relevance: In this cohort study, hearing loss was prevalent in France, and the prevalence of hearing loss increased with age among both men and women. Hearing aids were underused, particularly among older individuals. These findings suggest that hearing loss prevention and screening in the French population are needed.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Prevalence of Hearing Loss and Disabling Hearing Loss by Age and Sex Among Participants From the CONSTANCES Study
A total of 186 460 participants with full audiometric data from the CONSTANCES study were included in the present study. Hearing loss was defined as pure-tone average in the better ear of 20 dB or higher, and disabling hearing loss was defined as pure-tone average in the better ear of 35 dB or higher.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Use of Hearing Aids Among Participants With Disabling Hearing Loss From the CONSTANCES Cohort
A total of 186 460 participants with full audiometric data from the CONSTANCES study were included in the present study. Disabling hearing loss was defined as pure-tone average in the better ear of 35 dB or higher.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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