Professor Im Gi-jung

Although the prevalence of severe-profound hearing loss is decreasing, the number of people with the illness is increasing rapidly among those aged 80 and over, Korea University Guro Hospital said Tuesday.

A severe-profound hearing loss is an illness where the patient has a hearing loss of more than 60 percent from both ears making it hard for them to hear without a hearing aid or implant.

The data comes from the recent report published by the Korea Hearing Society after it analyzed the National Health Insurance Service big data from 2006 to 2015.

According to the analysis by age, the prevalence rate of severe-profound hearing loss has declined in all age groups since 2011. However, in comparison with other age groups, the number of patients over 80 years of age has tripled with one out of every 25 people suffering from the illness.

The hospital said the data represents that the life-span of elderly patients with the disease has increased making it essential to put more focus on the quality of life of seniors with the advanced hearing loss.

“Before the hearing loss becomes worse, patients should try to improve their quality of life by slowing the progress of the disease," said Professor Im Gi-jung of the department of otorhinolaryngology at the hospital, and the author of the research paper.

It is also essential to overcome the hearing loss through rapid diagnosis, treatment, and hearing rehabilitation, Im added.

The results of the research were published in the Scientific Reports.

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