Schleswig-Holstein Wins Nationwide Hearing Test
Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of German reunification—a good opportunity to take a closer look at Germans’ hearing ability.
Although it has been 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, which led to the former GDR’s accession to the Federal Republic of Germany, there are still differences between the “old” and “new” federal states, whether in terms of economic growth, unemployment, the risk of poverty, or life expectancy. The hearing ability of the German population also varies from state to state and from city to city. The Berlin-based startup Mimi Hearing Technologies, developer of a hearing test app, investigated this in collaboration with the health insurance provider Barmer—and found that there are, in some cases, significant differences within Germany.
Where People Hear Best
The authors conclude that people in Schleswig-Holstein have the best hearing, while residents of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have the worst. According to their findings, the hearing ability of test subjects in Germany’s northernmost state is 1.09 dB above the national average. Tied for second place are Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, with hearing that is 0.55 dB better. Lower Saxony ranks third among the federal states with the best hearing. The bottom three in the national hearing index are Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at minus 1.63 dB, Saarland (minus 1.06 dB), and Bremen (minus 0.76 dB). Residents of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse have hearing that is fairly average.
East-West Disparity in Hearing Ability
It is striking that in four out of five—and thus nearly all—Eastern German states, average hearing ability falls below the national average, whereas in most Western German states, people hear just as well as or better than the average. This is certainly due to demographic factors: As a result of the migration of young people from East to West, the low birth rate in East Germany, and rising life expectancy, the aging of the population has progressed more rapidly in the eastern German states than in western Germany. Since hearing ability naturally declines with age, the federal states with a higher average age perform worse on the hearing index.
In all of the eastern German cities examined by the study, hearing ability is also below average. Erfurt is the eastern German city that performs best in this regard—with a deficit of 0.59 dB. According to the study, residents of Rostock (minus 2.96 dB), Paderborn (minus 1.56 dB), and Dresden (minus 1.52 dB) have the poorest hearing. The top performers in the city rankings are Oldenburg, with hearing 2.26 dB better than the national average, Freiburg (1.42 dB above average), and Fürth (1.32 dB above average).
Awareness of Good Hearing Has Increased Among Young People
Regardless of whether one lives in eastern or western Germany, the nationwide hearing test campaign conducted last year by the Fördergemeinschaft Gutes Hören (FGH) found that more and more young people are interested in their hearing and are having their hearing tested. 2,827 participants under the age of 40 took part in the FGH Hörtour 2018 mobile hearing screening campaign; 748 were even younger than 20. In total, the FGH conducted nearly 24,500 hearing tests. As expected, the proportion of participants diagnosed with hearing loss increased with age. While hearing loss was detected in only 11 percent of participants under 20, the figure rose to 24 percent among those aged 21 to 40. In the 41-to-60 age group, 59 percent had hearing loss. And among those over 60—by far the largest age group to participate in the hearing test—85 percent had hearing loss.
Often No Hearing Aids Despite Hearing Loss
What is concerning, however, is that most participants whose test results indicated significant hearing loss were not wearing hearing aids—even though they had already noticed their declining hearing ability. This makes initiatives such as the German Hearing Aid Industry Association’s World Hearing Day all the more important; while they do not replace a hearing test with a hearing care professional, they highlight the importance of a professional examination and consultation with an ENT doctor or hearing care professional. This is because hearing aids improve quality of life, can reduce the risk of falls and depression, and help maintain vitality and cognitive function—regardless of age or place of residence.
People who do not wear hearing aids, even though they have hearing loss, are more likely to suffer from fatigue, listlessness, headaches, and stress, which increases the risk of depression. Studies also show that the risks of falls, disability, and accelerated cognitive decline increase with progressive hearing loss if it is not corrected with hearing aids. The rule of thumb is: The sooner hearing loss is addressed, the fewer negative consequences there will be for the person affected. Therefore, it is advisable to have your hearing tested regularly and to schedule an appointment for a hearing test with a hearing care professional at the latest when you suspect that your hearing is deteriorating.
How the Hearing Index Works
For the “Healthy Hearing Index” study, the Berlin-based software company Mimi Hearing Technologies compiled the results from its hearing test app and calculated a nationwide average for each age group. In the next step, individual test results were compared with the average for the respective age group. This allowed the study’s authors to determine to what extent the hearing ability of residents in a particular state or city falls below or exceeds the average. The study was based on the mean of the hearing thresholds at the four frequencies 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, and 4 kHz—known internationally as PTA-4—a reference value used by the World Health Organization to classify hearing loss.
Using the same method, Mimi Hearing Technologies had already tested the hearing ability of residents in 50 cities worldwide back in 2017. In that study, Viennese residents ranked at the top with the lowest hearing loss. The residents of Delhi came in last. The seven German cities included in the study occupy top positions in the global hearing ranking; four of them even made it into the top ten: Munich, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and Cologne.
Do you feel like you’re having a harder time understanding the people you’re talking to, or does it take an unusual amount of effort to concentrate on a conversation—especially when it’s noisy around you? If so, don’t hesitate. Visit a hearing care professional or an ENT specialist near you and have your hearing tested.
