Hearing Aid Devices Helps in Managing Hearing Loss by Reducing Disruption and Enhancing Sound Quality
Hearing loss is a medical condition where a person’s ability to hear thresholds of 25 decibels (dB) is compromised. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 5% of the world population suffered from hearing loss, accounting for more than 466 million individuals in 2018. It has been estimated that by 2050 over 900 million individuals would be suffering from hearing loss. The prevalence of hearing loss has been high in new-borns and older population. About one-third of the older population suffers from hearing loss across the world. The prevalence of older population suffering from hearing loss is higher in regions such as South Asia, Asia-Pacific, and Sub-Saharan countries.
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Causes of Hearing Loss
There are different causes of hearing loss such as
1. Congenital causes: These causes are present or acquired soon after birth in an individual. Hearing loss can be caused by hereditary and non-hereditary genetic factors or by certain complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
2. Acquired causes: Hearing loss can be acquired at any age in an individual due to infectious diseases (meningitis, measles, and mumps), chronic ear infections, otitis media, injury, excessive exposure to noise, and wax or foreign body blocking the ear canal.
Impact of Hearing Loss
Various impacts on an individual caused due to hearing loss are mentioned below.
Functional impact: The communication power of an individual is hindered due to the hearing loss. Unaddressed hearing loss and ear diseases such as otitis media can have a significantly adverse effect on the academic performance of children. They often have increased rates of grade failure and greater need for education assistance.
Social and emotional impact: Lack of communication skills may lead to loneliness, frustration, and isolation in individuals.
Economic impact: In developing countries, children with hearing loss and deafness rarely receive any schooling. Adults with hearing loss also have a much higher unemployment rate. Among those who are employed, a higher percentage of people with hearing loss are in the lower grades of employment compared with the general workforce.
Hearing Aids Devices
Hearing aid devices are small electronic devices used by people with the loss of hearing and other related symptoms. These devices enable the person in hearing clearly without much disruption and with improved sound quality. However, it is very essential to consult an audiologist and know about the type of hearing aids available in market are required. There are majority of companies manufacturing hearing aid devices and accessories. Several challenges, technical as well as in terms of usage by consumers, have been reported in the market. With these electronic hearing aid devices, dependency on battery has been one of the major point of concerns in most of the brands.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the U.K. have issued a warning stating that those who have bought ZeniPower mercury-free hearing aid batteries need to check the best before date on the packs. The Chinese manufacturer ZeniPower is the supreme supplier to National Health Service (NHS) for the hearing aid batteries and it has been engaged in the distribution of these batteries in 40 other countries worldwide. These batteries have been recalled by the company as they have chances of explosion and cause severe hazard to the patient.
