Mr. Brendan Lennon:

In 2021, Chime did its own survey of almost 600 people between the ages of 50 and 80 who had a level of hearing loss. They told it that they were aware of the link between hearing loss and depression, but not necessarily aware of other links such as cognitive decline. According to international experts, and as set out in Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care: 2020 Report of the Lancet Commission, 8% of dementia is preventable through early management of hearing loss. Indeed, other modifiable factors such as social isolation and depression add to that 8% figure because they are associated with someone living without amplification. The wider public understands, and more than 40% of people in the survey understood, the link between depression and hearing loss. However, they did not understand the link between that and other issues, not just cognitive decline; there is a wide range of issues associated with hearing loss, from functional independence to increased hospitalisation as they are more prone to have accidents because they are less in tune with their environment. Therefore, the health burden is considerable but the wider public is not aware of it.

It is not that people are unaware that their hearing is deteriorating. In the survey that I mentioned, 43% of people noted a deterioration in their hearing, including 37% of people in their 50s. Quite a lot of people notice a deterioration but it tends to be gradual and something they adjust to and live with. Initially, they turn the television up a bit. They listen harder, which they are not aware they do. This undoubtedly has some connection with cognitive decline as we know from MRI scans in recent years that when people are listening harder, they employ other parts of their brain to concentrate on listening.

They do that to the detriment of things like short-term memory, for example. That is one of the primary indicators of cognitive decline, ultimately, possibly leading to dementia.

The wider public are not aware of those issues but we are. Given that we have such a high level of unmanaged hearing loss, this is a significant health opportunity for the State to reduce the health burden, actually save money and improve quality of life.