Brits ignoring early signs of hearing loss, finds new research by Nuance Hearing

LONDON, Feb. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- New research, unveiled by leading tech provider Nuance Hearing, shows a worrying complacency around hearing loss among UK adults, with many people admitting to having hearing issues, but being reluctant to do anything about it.

A survey of 2,000 UK adults, found that over two fifths (40%) of the general population admitted to suffering from the 'cocktail party problem' - where they struggle to hear in busy environments - which audiologists are warning is one of the early signs of hearing loss.

The research found that around three in ten 45–54-year-olds admitted to having some kind of hearing loss, rising to 49% in the 55-64 category. Despite these high numbers, people are waiting on average 10 years to seek help for hearing loss, and 41% would get their eyes checked but wouldn't consider doing the same for their hearing.

Hearing issues were found to have been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic with nearly half of Brits saying that face masks made it even harder to hear in noisy environments.

The research has been conducted to coincide with the launch of the Voice Selector Converse - a state-of-the-art directional microphone that helps understand speech in noisy environments by allowing the user to focus on the sounds that matter and tune out the ones that do not. Its unique auto-steering technology picks up the dominant speaker, even when they are moving about. Alternatively the user can manually switch between speakers when conversing a group. In audiology testing, users were able to understand speech on average three times better than without the product.

CEO of Nuance Hearing, Ori Goren said: "We know that many people are suffering in silence, unable to feel comfortable or enjoy conversing in busy environments, and are proud to have launched an innovative tech solution to help combat this."

Nuance's director of clinical research and chief audiologist, Tami Harel added: "Unaddressed hearing loss costs the UK £25.5 billion each year; not to mention the detrimental effect it has on people's lives and wellbeing. With this in mind, it's important to encourage people to start looking after and thinking about their ear health in the way that they already do for their eye health."