Summary
Results from the MarkeTrak 2022 survey of US hearing aid owners, with a three-survey comparison of which features, including telecoils and phone streaming, owners say their hearing aids have.
Key findings
- The companion methods article by Carr and Kihm, MarkeTrak-Tracking the Pulse of the Hearing Aid Market (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9715310/), Research Method Overview, dates MT2022 fieldwork to November-December 2021: 15,138 households, 43,957 household members, and 3,218 detailed respondents with hearing loss, including 1,139 hearing aid owners. Its Research Method section describes online sampling with census-based quotas and household/individual weighting. These overall counts differ from Picou's 815 recent-owner feature sample.
- Owners who got hearing aids in the past five years said their aids have a telecoil in 33% of cases in MarkeTrak 2022 (n=815), against 20% in MarkeTrak 10 (n=702) and 23% in MarkeTrak 9 (n=782); the paper labels the two earlier surveys 2019 and 2015. The survey's wording described the telecoil as being for the telephone or public places with a hearing loop.
- Over the same surveys, the share able to stream sound directly from a smartphone rose from 2% (MarkeTrak 9) to 13% (MarkeTrak 10) and 44% (MarkeTrak 2022), and the share with a smartphone app from 6% to 17% and 44%.
- Reported telecoils differed by how the aids were fitted: 29% of owners fitted in person, 59% of those fitted remotely and 43% of self-fitters. The author says it is unclear whether this reflects the devices on offer or professionals' choices.
- Asked which of their own features most improved their listening (up to three), 6% of owners with a telecoil who were fitted in person or remotely, and 3% of self-fitters, chose the telecoil; of owners able to stream directly from a smartphone, 23% (fitted in person), 13% (remotely) and 7% (self-fitted) chose streaming. The table gives each share among owners who have the feature, not among all owners.
- 90% of owners with a telecoil were satisfied with their hearing aids, against 82% of owners without one.
- Table 4, on the features with the most positive impact, lists fitting-channel samples of 429 in-person owners, 45 remote owners and 27 self-fitters. These differ from Table 3, on feature ownership, which lists 716, 51 and 48 respectively.
- Table 1 gives 815 owners who obtained aids within five years and 44% reporting direct smartphone streaming. The companion issue editorial, MarkeTrak 2022: Insights into the Evolving Hearing Market (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9715304/), states that the Hearing Industries Association supports the surveys.
Limits
Self-reported features, so the figures show what owners know their aids have, not what is fitted; the jump in telecoils between MarkeTrak 10 and MarkeTrak 2022 is not explained. The survey does not ask about venue systems. MarkeTrak 2022 was fielded in late 2021 with 15,138 census-balanced US households (3,218 people with self-reported hearing loss), per a companion article in the same issue. Predates Auracast hearing aids.
Read the original
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9715311
Cited in
- Which hearing devices can receive which systems?Open
- Auracast, hearing loop, infrared, RF or Wi-Fi: which suits which room?Disputed
- How many listeners carry a telecoil, an Auracast-capable device or a smartphone?Disputed
- What do listeners prefer, and how often do they use venue systems?Partly answered
- What does Wi-Fi streaming need from the venue's network and from listeners' phones?Partly answered
Cite this source
Picou EM. Hearing Aid Benefit and Satisfaction Results from the MarkeTrak 2022 Survey: Importance of Features and Hearing Care Professionals. Seminars in Hearing 43(4):301-316 (Thieme). 1 December 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9715311/ (accessed 13 October 2026).
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