Socialization of Aged Services Is Imperative for the Dangers of the Elderly Hearing Aid Market

Business Club September 1

Editor's note: China’s aging population is rapidly developing, and its development rate ranks first in the world. This brings a rare opportunity for the health industry in the elderly. The incidence of the elderly population is higher than that of other age groups. Among them, hearing loss has been listed as a major chronic disease that seriously affects the quality of life of the elderly in many countries. However, the lag in the development of hearing aids for the elderly in China has severely affected the treatment and rehabilitation of hearing loss in the elderly. At present, supporting and developing the hearing aid market for the elderly is an urgent issue.

The socialization of elderly services is imperative

China's aging population has grown faster than any other country in the world. Not long ago, the National Aging Office issued the "Statistical Communiqué on the Development of China's Old-age Business in 2009". The communique pointed out that in 2009, the national population aged 60 and above reached 617.4 million, accounting for 12.5% ​​of the country’s total population. The year 2009 was the largest increase in the proportion of the elderly population in China. Compared with the previous year, the elderly population had a net increase of 7.25 million, an increase of 0.5 percentage points. According to forecasts, during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, the country’s elderly population will break through 200 million, and the proportion of the elderly population in the total population will exceed 15%. By 2050, there will be 400 million people aged 60 and over in China. In particular, we need to pay attention to the fact that over 50% of elderly empty-nest households in urban and rural areas in China have reached 70% of elderly empty-nest families in large and medium-sized cities. Changes in the family structure require that society must shoulder the responsibility of taking care of the elderly. The socialization of elderly services is imperative.

Elderly people with huge hearing loss

According to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the incidence of people over the age of 50 is 50% in the world and 80% in those over 55 years of age. Among them, forgetfulness, insomnia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis and other diseases are more common. Hearing loss is also a disease that seriously affects the quality of life of the elderly. At present, hearing loss is the 15th highest in the world. In different regions, there are certain differences in rankings, such as in Europe, the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia, which are listed in the sixth, tenth and eleventh respectively. In the United States and Canada, hearing loss is ranked as the second and third chronic disease that affects the quality of life of the elderly.

At present, there are no accurate epidemiological statistics on the incidence of hearing loss in the elderly population in China. The first sample survey on handicapped people conducted in China in the late 1980s showed that there were 17.7 million people with disabilities in our hearing language. However, due to the lack of investigation experience at the time, people with hearing impairment were underestimated. On April 1, 2006, China launched the second sample survey of people with disabilities. On December 1st of the same year, the second national sample survey office for the handicapped released statistics and projections: China's hearing-impaired population reached 200400, accounting for 24.16% of the total number of disabled people in the country; language disability was 1.27 million, accounting for the entire country 1.53% of the total number of people with disabilities. The proportion of hearing impairment in senior citizens aged 60 and over is significantly higher than that of other age groups.

In addition, from the 43 research reports on senile hearing loss published in domestic academic journals, the incidence of senile hearing loss in China is between 35% and 90%, and the span of statistical data is very large. Wang Shufeng is equal to the 1998 survey of elderly people in Beijing. The incidence of senile hearing loss is 41.9%. If high-frequency hearing was calculated, the incidence increased by 76.1%. The training results are equivalent to 2005 tests of 1,008 elderly patients. The incidence of hearing loss is 98.9%, and the proportion of patients with language frequency is 90%. In 1995, Lin Guojing and others conducted hearing tests on 294 rural seniors and found that 58.8% of subjects over the age of 50 had hearing loss. Huang Weining is equivalent to a sample survey conducted in Beijing in 2003. It shows that in 1434 elderly people over the age of 60, the incidence of hearing loss is 64.7%. Some studies also found that the incidence of sudden deafness in old age remained high, reaching 45.3%.

Elderly hearing service market is lagging behind

On the whole, the hearing loss population of the elderly in China, like foreign countries, is a huge patient group, which is the basis for developing the domestic hearing aid market. However, the health care service system for the elderly in China is relatively backward, and most health service organizations focus their research and development on young and middle-aged people. Especially in hearing rehabilitation, there are no specialized agencies serving the elderly in China. Major hospitals and rehabilitation organizations mainly target children.

Analytical data from the Carnegie Securities Institute, a professional analyst firm for the European securities industry, shows that “China currently has only more than 1,000 hearing aid fitting shops and service organizations, and China’s hearing loss population has exceeded 20 million people, of which at least half are elderly people. Hearing Loss Patients Older hearing patients have a very clear need for professional services, but compared with mature markets, China's hearing service infrastructure is relatively backward, and lacks supporting software services. Many patients, especially elderly patients, are unable to obtain suitable Hearing aids.

The use rate is larger than the foreign gap

Let us look at the data in the United States. A survey conducted by MarkeTrak VII in the United States in 2005 found that American hearing aids are mainly used by males between the ages of 55 and 64. Their annual family income exceeds $60,000, and they generally have full-time jobs. Living in a large city with a population of more than 2 million people. The older the elderly, the higher the percentage of hearing aids used. Among them, the proportion of elderly people who use hearing aids over the age of 85 is close to 60.6%, and the proportion of people using hearing aids under the age of 18 is only 12.5%.

Another survey showed that the average age of first-time users of hearing aids in the United States continues to increase. In 1994, the average age of first-time users of hearing aids in the United States was 67.8 years, and in 2004 it increased to 69.7 years. The increase in age of first-time users is mainly reflected in the hearing loss population over 65 years old. In 2000, this population was 35 million people; in 2005 it was 36.7 million; in 2010, this population may reach 40.2 million.

However, there is no very clear statistical data on the hearing aid market for elderly people in China. Huang Weining et al. conducted a sample survey in Beijing in 2003 and found that among the 839 elderly hearing loss patients aged over 60, only 8 people wear hearing aids, accounting for only 1.1%. The training survey found that in the 2005 survey, only 73 of the 997 elderly people with hearing impairment (8% of those surveyed) used hearing aids. Obviously, the use rate of elderly hearing aids in our country is extremely low.

It can be seen from the above situation that the market for hearing aids for the elderly in China is far behind that for the child hearing aid market. It is necessary for the state and society to recognize this situation and quickly formulate relevant measures to make up for the treatment gap in hearing impairment among the elderly. .

prompt:

The basic characteristics of hearing aids used by elderly people in China:

● It is estimated that the average use rate of elderly hearing aids in China is less than 4%, and in the 75- to 84-year-old segment, fewer patients use hearing aids, less than 0.5%;

● The average price of hearing aids used by the elderly is between 400 and 1,000 yuan;

● Most of the products used by the elderly are still box-type hearing aids, ear-type hearing aids (BTE), and a few are ear hearing aids (ITE);

● The hearing aids used by the elderly are still dominated by analog technology (89%), and the use of digital hearing aids has increased;

● The use of unilateral hearing aids (about 85%), big cities began to use binaural hearing aids;

● It is estimated that hearing aids are used on average for more than 5 years;

● Older people usually buy hearing aids in hearing aid stores because of the higher prices, the elderly will continue to consult, and often need family members with matching;

● It is estimated that about 45% of hearing aids used by older people are purchased by their children or other family members.

● In the process of purchasing hearing aids, seniors visit the service shop on average three times, conduct hearing tests for the first time and receive advice, the second time is price consultation and verification, and the third is purchase;

● The areas where seniors buy hearing aids are concentrated in coastal cities, Beijing, and provincial capital cities;

● Elderly people who use hearing aids generally have higher education levels than those who are not used, and most of them have extensive work experience.