Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Paper (government survey analysis)

Prevalence of hearing loss among Canadians aged 20 to 79: Audiometric results from the 2012/2013 Canadian Health Measures Survey

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/statcan-2015-hearing-prevalence/ · record checked 13 October 2026

  • Feder K, Michaud D, Ramage-Morin P, McNamee J, Beauregard Y
  • Statistics Canada, Health Reports 26(7)

Government (Statistics Canada publication using the Canadian Health Measures Survey)

Summary

A nationally weighted analysis of 2,972 Canadian adults comparing measured hearing loss with self-reported difficulty and hearing aid use.

Key findings

  • The final sample comprised 2,972 adults aged 20-79 with results for both ears, representing 23.7 million people. The overall survey response rate was 51.7%.
  • Defines speech-frequency hearing loss as a pure-tone average greater than 25 dB in the worse ear across 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz, including unilateral and bilateral loss.
  • Measured speech-frequency hearing loss affected 19% of adults aged 20-79: 12% had mild and 7% moderate or worse loss. Prevalence was no more than 10% below age 50 and 65% at ages 70-79.
  • Fewer than 4% self-reported hearing difficulty using the Health Utilities Index questions, substantially below the measured prevalence.
  • About 12% of adults with measured hearing loss used hearing aids; this estimate is flagged for cautious interpretation because of sampling variability. About 25% with moderate or severe loss used hearing aids.
  • The original HTML metadata gives the issue date as 15 July 2015; its footer gives a later modification date.

Limits

Data are from 2012/2013, not current audience observations. Excludes institutional residents, territories, reserves and certain other groups; some ear conditions and cochlear implants also excluded people from testing. Sample weights address the survey design but do not make venue audiences representative of the general population. Some hearing aid estimates carry high sampling variability.

Read the original

www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2015007/article/14206-eng.htm

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Cite this source

Feder K, Michaud D, Ramage-Morin P, McNamee J, Beauregard Y. Prevalence of hearing loss among Canadians aged 20 to 79: Audiometric results from the 2012/2013 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Statistics Canada, Health Reports 26(7). 15 July 2015. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2015007/article/14206-eng.htm (accessed 13 October 2026).

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