People suffering hearing loss not getting specialist help

People consulting their GP worried about their hearing loss are not getting help with their potential problem.

In fact, research shows that 39 per cent of people who have seen their GP about hearing loss are not getting any further help or even a referral for a hearing test

Professor Adrian Davis, National Director for Newborn Hearing Screening Programme, and the leading epidemiologist of hearing impairment in the UK says: “The very large numbers of people who have identified that they have hearing problems – including those whose family were the first
to notice the problem!- and are not being referred for hearing tests or to see an audiologists by their GP, is an issue that deserves further investigation.”

Nearly 15,000 people in the UK were questioned about their hearing and their knowledge of hearing tests.

The EuroTrak UK study is being publicised by the British Hearing Aid Manufacturers Association BHAMA.

For the BHAMA, Lawrence Werth says:“39% is a disappointing figure because it means millions are battling with isolation, withdrawal, problems at work, depression, low self-esteem and a host of other negative consequences reported by recent other studies.”

Around 3.5 million people in the UK should be wearing a hearing aid but are not doing so.