Reasons for the non-use of hearing aids: perspectives of non-users, past users, and family members

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic information and hearing status of respondents with hearing loss.

	Hearing aid users (n = 85)	Past users (n = 29)	Non-users (n = 218)
Mean age (years)	71.09	67.45	61.83
Sex
Male, n (%)	56 (65.88)	20 (68.97)	107 (49.08)
Female, n (%)	29 (34.12)	9 (31.03)	111 (50.92)
Country
Australia, n (%)	48 (56.47)	6 (20.69)	57 (26.15)
UK, n (%)	20 (23.53)	12 (41.38)	79 (36.24)
USA, n (%)	17 (20.00)	11 (37.93)	82 (37.61)
Self-reported hearing level
Very good, n (%)	0 (0.00)	0 (0.00)	1 (0.46)
Good, n (%)	4 (4.71)	5 (17.24)	31 (14.22)
Fair, n (%)	34 (40.00)	13 (44.83)	146 (66.97)
Poor, n (%)	38 (44.71)	9 (31.03)	38 (17.43)
Very poor, n (%)	9 (10.59)	2 (6.90)	2 (0.92)
Length of hearing difficulty
<1 year, n (%)	2 (2.35)	0 (0.00)	22 (10.09)
1–5 years, n (%)	26 (30.59)	12 (41.38)	121 (55.50)
6–10 years, n (%)	24 (28.23)	5 (17.24)	35 (16.06)
11–15 years, n (%)	14 (16.47)	6 (20.69)	17 (7.80)
15+ years, n (%)	19 (22.35)	6 (20.69)	23 (10.55)
Have you had your hearing tested
Yes, n (%)	85 (100.00)	27 (93.10)	129 (59.17)
No, n (%)	0 (0.00)	2 (6.90)	88 (40.37)
Unsure, n (%)	0 (0.00)	0 (0.00)	1 (0.46)

Table 2. Family member group demographic information and their reported hearing rating of their family member.

	All respondents (N = 313)
Mean age (years)	48.81
Sex
Male, n (%)	65 (20.77)
Female, n (%)	247 (78.91)
Non-binary, n (%)	1 (0.32)
Country
Australia, n (%)	107 (34.19)
UK, n (%)	104 (33.23)
USA, n (%)	102 (32.59)
Rating of family member’s hearing
Very good, n (%)	3 (0.96)
Good, n (%)	17 (5.43)
Fair, n (%)	111 (35.46)
Poor, n (%)	139 (44.41)
Very poor, n (%)	43 (13.74)
Length of family member’s hearing difficulty
<1 year, n (%)	17 (5.43)
1–5 years, n (%)	152 (48.56)
6–10 years, n (%)	64 (20.45)
11–15 years, n (%)	33 (10.54)
15+ years, n (%)	40 (12.78)
Don’t know, n (%)	7 (2.24)
Have they had their hearing tested
Yes, n (%)	209 (66.77)
No, n (%)	65 (20.77)
Unsure, n (%)	39 (12.46)
Family member’s experience using hearing aids
Currently uses hearing aids, n (%)	108 (34.50)
No longer uses hearing aids, n (%)	40 (12.78)
Has never used hearing aids, n (%)	158 (50.48)
Don’t know, n (%)	7 (2.24)

Figure 1. Reasons for non-use of hearing aids as reported by past users and family members of past users (% responses, multiple responses possible).

Figure 2. Reasons for non-use of hearing aids as reported by non-users and family members of non-users (% responses, multiple responses possible).