A model for estimating hearing aid coverage world-wide using historical data on hearing aid sales

Figures & data

Table 1. Data sources used for estimating hearing aid coverage from EHIMA unit sales data.

Data	Source	Location
Hearing loss prevalence	WHO 2018	https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/260336
	Global Burden of Disease 2017	Doi:/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32279-7
Demographic data	Index Mundi	www.indexmundi.com/factbook/fields/population
Gross National Income	World Bank	https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD
Hearing aid unit sales	EHIMA members sales inventory	www.ehima.com/about-ehima/hearing-aid-sales/
	National wholesalers associations	Not publicly available
Bilateral fitting percentage	EHIMA EuroTrak surveys	www.ehima.com/surveys/
Hearing aid lifetime	EFHOH	www.efhoh.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/State-of-Hearing-Aids-Provision-in-Europe-2018.pdf
	EHIMA EuroTrak surveys	www.ehima.com/surveys/

EHIMA: European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association.

Table 2. Unit sales of hearing instruments in millions per year and per region reported or estimated by EHIMA members.

Year	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2012	2013
Total units	16.04	15.05	14.24	13.68	12.82	11.61	10.96	10.38	10.09	9.52
Western Europe	6.41	6.04	5.85	5.74	5.33	4.65	4.37	4.18	4.13	3.74
Other Europe	0.56	0.54	0.60	0.45	0.43	0.40	0.40	0.36	0.34	0.34
North America	4.56	4.22	4.11	3.93	3.67	3.43	3.29	3.18	3.08	3.00
APAC	3.27	2.95	2.65	2.58	2.48	2.29	2.13	1.95	1.88	1.79
South America	0.74	0.78	0.62	0.61	0.62	0.58	0.53	0.50	0.49	0.48
Africa/Middle East	0.50	0.53	0.40	0.37	0.30	0.25	0.23	0.21	0.17	0.17

Values in italics are estimated. EHIMA: European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association.

Figure 1. Flowchart for calculation of Coverage.

Figure 2. Bilateral fitting percentage from EuroTrak surveys plotted against gross national income (GNI) per capita in $. Also shown is a polynomial trendline and its equation.

Table 3. Data and results on hearing instrument coverage for the WHO model with number of people with disabling hearing loss (DHL), important parameters and percentage of people with DHL using hearing instruments, 2018.

WHO Region	Population in mill.	% with disabling hearing loss (DHL)	People with DHL in mill.	Hearing aid sales over 5/8 years in mill.	Average GNI/capita in USD	Bilateral fitting %	Hearing aid users with DHL in %	Hearing aid users in mill.	Users in % of people with DHL	Non-users in %
Global	7483	6.1%	457	79.8				44.7	10%	90%
High-income	1012	4.6%	46	54.7	48,707	66%	80%	26.4	57%	43%
Central/East Europe and Central Asia	410	8.4%	34	5.7	8845	33%	95%	4.1	12%	88%
Middle East and North Africa	517	3.2%	16	2.4	7181	30%	95%	1.8	11%	89%
Sub-Saharan Africa	1054	4.6%	48	0.8	1515	23%	98%	0.7	1%	99%
South Asia	1730	7.4%	127	3.1	1657	23%	98%	2.5	2%	98%
East Asia	1441	6.9%	99	6.4	10,028	34%	95%	4.5	5%	95%
South East Asia	677	6.9%	47	1.2	3923	26%	98%	1.0	2%	98%
Latin America and Caribbean	643	6.2%	40	5.4	8635	32%	95%	3.9	10%	90%

Figure 3. Coverage in the eight WHO regions. WHO: World Health Organization.

Figure 4. Coverage in the six GBD regions. GBD: global burden of disease.

Table 4. Data and results on hearing instrument coverage for the GBD model with number of people with moderate to severe hearing loss (MSHL), important parameters and percentage of people using hearing instruments, 2018.

GBD Region	Population in mill.	% with hearing loss (MSHL)	People with MSHL loss in mill.	Hearing aid sales over 5/8 years in mill.	Average GNI/capita in USD	Bilateral fitting %	Hearing aid users with MSHL in %	Hearing aid users in mill.	Users in % of people with MSHL	Non-users in %
Global	7485	5.2%	391	79.8				42.9	11%	89%
African Region	1054	3.3%	35	0.8	1515	23%	96%	0.6	2%	98%
Eastern Mediterranean Region	554	2.9%	16	2.4	6739	30%	93%	1.8	11%	89%
European Region	844	5.8%	49	33.9	25,829	68%	79%	15.9	33%	67%
Region of the Americas	1008	5.9%	59	25.6	27,745	61%	84%	13.3	22%	78%
South East Asia Region	2131	5.1%	109	3.5	2292	24%	96%	2.7	3%	97%
Western Pacific Region	1008	5.9%	59	25.6	27,745	61%	84%	13.3	7%	78%

GBD: global burden of disease.

Table 5. Variations in Coverage for the low-income countries of the WHO model depending upon bilateral fitting %.

WHO Region	Bilateral %			Hearing aid coverage %
	Baseline Bil. %	Baseline x 2	Baseline /3	Baseline Cov. %	Baseline x 2	Baseline /3
Cntl/East Europe and Cntl Asia	33%	66%	11%	11.9%	9.5%	14.2%
Middle East and North Africa	30%	46%	7%	10.9%	8.9%	12.9%
Sub-saharan Africa	23%	60%	10%	1.4%	1.2%	1.6%
South Asia	23%	46%	8%	1.9%	1.6%	2.2%
East Asia	34%	68%	11%	4.6%	3.6%	5.5%
South East Asia	26%	52%	80%	2.1%	1.7%	2.4%
Latin America and Caribbean	32%	64%	11%	9.7%	8.1%	11.9%

World Health Organization. 2018. "Addressing the rising prevalence of hearing loss.” Accessed August 2 2021. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/260336.

 Google Scholar