SynthesisLancet (London, England)2021
Hearing loss prevalence and years lived with disability, 1990-2019: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.
Synthesis in Lancet (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 630 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Healthy Hearing for Healthy Ageing: a Proof-of-concept Randomized Controlled Trial of Data-driven Hearing Rehabilitation Versus Standard Care in Older Adults With Hearing Impairment.
PLUS-Optimal for Adults With Listening Difficulties: Investigating the Roles of Listening and Thinking Skills in Online Training Across Different Groups
Who cites it
630 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,035 citations in OpenAlex.
- Complications of Cochlear Implant Surgery in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Enhancing and sustaining noise attenuation from hearing protection devices: A mixed methods review of fit testing and instruction approaches.Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene · 2026Pooled it
- Comparing the prevalence, incidence and severity of mental disorders between deaf and hard-of-hearing and hearing adults aged 18-60: a systematic review.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Suicidality in Individuals With Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Genes linked to hearing and vestibular phenotypes in humans and mice: an interspecies systematic review.Human genomics · 2025Pooled it
- Characteristics of Hearing Loss in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Barriers and enablers to general practitioner referral of older adults to hearing care: a systematic review using the theoretical domains framework.European geriatric medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Short-Term Audiometric Trajectories in Older Adults Receiving Systemic Human Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: An Exploratory Single-Arm Substudy.Clinical interventions in aging · 2026Trial
- Efficacy of standard care versus acoustic therapy on acute tinnitus in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss: a randomized controlled trial.BMC medicine · 2025Trial
- The role of gut microbiome in aging-associated diseases: where do we stand now and how technology will transform the future.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Appraising the causal relationship between kidney function and hearing performance: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Renal failure · 2026Article
- Decoding the renal-cochlear axis: explainable machine learning and phenotype clustering reveal high-risk hearing loss subtypes in CKD.Renal failure · 2026Article
- Global trends in hearing loss among the working-age population: a 30-year epidemiological analysis.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Piezoelectric Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Promoting the Growth of Spiral Ganglion Neurons via Acoustic Stimulation.Smart medicine · 2026Article
- Adolescent Hearing Loss in China and the United States: Trends, Socioeconomic Disparities, and Noise Exposure From GBD 1990-2023 and NHANES 2005-2020.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2026Article
- Clinical characteristics of asymmetric hearing loss in children from a large pediatric cohort.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Quality of Life, Self-Esteem, and Social Integration in Cochlear Implant Recipients: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Tertiary Center in Romania.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Global Burden of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction in Older Patients: Pathophysiology, Clinical Consequences, Diagnostic Challenges and Therapeutic Perspectives-A SANRA-Based Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
570 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHearing loss affects access to spoken language, which can affect cognition and development, and can negatively affect social wellbeing. We present updated estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study on the prevalence of hearing loss in 2019, as well as the condition's associated disability.
methodsWe did systematic reviews of population-representative surveys on hearing loss prevalence from 1990 to 2019. We fitted nested meta-regression models for severity-specific prevalence, accounting for hearing aid coverage, cause, and the presence of tinnitus. We also forecasted the prevalence of hearing loss until 2050.
findingsAn estimated 1·57 billion (95% uncertainty interval 1·51-1·64) people globally had hearing loss in 2019, accounting for one in five people (20·3% [19·5-21·1]). Of these, 403·3 million (357·3-449·5) people had hearing loss that was moderate or higher in severity after adjusting for hearing aid use, and 430·4 million (381·7-479·6) without adjustment. The largest number of people with moderate-to-complete hearing loss resided in the Western Pacific region (127·1 million people [112·3-142·6]). Of all people with a hearing impairment, 62·1% (60·2-63·9) were older than 50 years. The Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index explained 65·8% of the variation in national age-standardised rates of years lived with disability, because countries with a low HAQ Index had higher rates of years lived with disability. By 2050, a projected 2·45 billion (2·35-2·56) people will have hearing loss, a 56·1% (47·3-65·2) increase from 2019, despite stable age-standardised prevalence.
interpretationAs populations age, the number of people with hearing loss will increase. Interventions such as childhood screening, hearing aids, effective management of otitis media and meningitis, and cochlear implants have the potential to ameliorate this burden. Because the burden of moderate-to-complete hearing loss is concentrated in countries with low health-care quality and access, stronger health-care provision mechanisms are needed to reduce the burden of unaddressed hearing loss in these settings.
fundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation and WHO.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.