MarkeTrak VIII: The Impact of the Hearing Healthcare Professional on Hearing Aid User Success

than 1 million patients. The key reasons for hearing aids in the drawer include: poor benefit, poor fit and comfort, and unsatisfactory performance in noise. Additionally, the last generation has witnessed little progress in terms of positive-word-of-mouth endorsement of hearing aids by patients, and despite the “digital revolution,” more than half of all patients who own hearing aids would not repurchase their current brand of hearing aids. In a previous paper, we quantified that more than 4 million people, who could benefit from hearing aids, will not purchase In previous articles within this series, 1,2 it was quantified that in the United States the hearing loss population has grown to 34.25 million people. Approximately 25% of people with hearing loss own hearing aids, and the majority of hearing aid owners have moderate-to-severe hearing loss. In the last generation, little progress has been made in regard to the proportion of patients who are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their hearing aids. Likewise, hearing aids “in the drawer” (hearing aids never used) have varied between 11.7% and 17.9% and are currently 12.4% representing more Although it is apparent that