Nearly 40 percent of people older than 65 suffer from hearing loss, meaning up to 1.37 million elderly people in Taiwan have hearing problems, a survey published by the PSA Charitable Foundation said yesterday.
The survey looked at the hearing examination reports of 9,055 people from 2016 until earlier this year.
Almost one out of every four people older than 65 is hearing impaired, higher than the WHO’s 33 percent average for the same age group, it found.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
The ratio increases to 48 percent for those older than 75 and 71.4 percent for those older than 85, it showed.
The survey also found that men have a higher proportion of hearing impairments than women.
However, only 85,000 people older than 65 have applied for government-issued identification certificates for the physically challenged, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the foundation said.
At a news conference held by the foundation in Taipei yesterday, a 70-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃) said that he became hard of hearing several years ago and that he often has to ask people talking to him to repeat what they said.
He did not seek medical help until his friend improved his quality of life after getting a hearing aid.
After he also got one, he resumed his favorite hobby of listening to classical music with his partner, Huang said.
People might start having hearing problems when they reach 50, as their auditory centers begin to degenerate due to aging and a reduced input of stimuli, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital Cochlear Implant Center director Chen Kuang-chao (陳光超) said.
Other factors that accelerate the degeneration of hearing include excessive noise stimulation, infections and the effects of medication, which in turn affect patients’ willingness to do social activities, as well as their communication and cognition skills, he said.
Hearing impairment in the elderly causes their cognition functions to degenerate 30 to 40 percent faster than other people, increasing the risk of dementia, he added.
People older than 50 should take a hearing examination every year and seek medical help if they find their hearing is damaged, Chen said.
Wearing a hearing aid or having a cochlear implant helps improve the quality of life and helps prevent dementia, he added.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS