[Do hearing aids live up to their promises?].

The main type of acquired hearing impairment is presbycusis (age-related hearing impairment). In presbycusis, mainly the high tones are no longer heard properly. In the Netherlands, approximately 2 million people are hard of hearing. About one third of all hearing impaired people have 1 or 2 hearing aids. 90% of the group of hearing aid users consists of people over 65. 15% of hearing aid users never or rarely use their hearing aid. The main complaint of hearing aid users is a reduced understanding of speech in noise. When the hearing impaired start to avoid a noisy setting, this can lead to symptoms of sadness and loneliness. Hearing aids live only partially up to promises. Both more information about hearing aids and more support for hearing aid users are necessary to achieve greater satisfaction.