Baby Boomer Men More Prone to Hearing Loss

Men who are members of the Baby Boomer generation — approximately half of the 76 million Americans born between World War II and the early 1960s — are more likely than their female counterparts to experience hearing loss, according to a compelling survey recently released by The EAR Foundation and Clarity. More than half, or 55 percent, of the men contacted for the Baby Boomer Hearing Loss Survey reported some degree of hearing loss; whereas only 44 percent of Boomer women indicated they were experiencing problems hearing. The survey results, which were released in October, indicated that hearing loss is more widespread among both men and women between the ages of 40 and 59 than previously estimated. Results suggest that nearly half of all Baby Boomers nationwide are having difficulty hearing. Earlier estimates from the 1990 National Health Interview Survey by the National Center for Health Statistics indicated 16 million people (20%) in a comparable age group (i.e., between ages 46 – 64) were suffering from hearing loss. The survey further revealed that among those who reported hearing loss, very few are doing anything about it. Only one out of every three individuals, or 34%, who said they experienced hearing