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A survey of mostly middle-aged adults reveals that among people aged 45 to 54, one in nine shows signs of hearing impairment.
The researchers tested hearing in more than 2,800 adults between the ages of 21 to 84. Over that large range, one in seven had lost some degree of hearing, and as expected, the rate of hearing loss increased with age.
Almost all of those older than 80 — about 90 percent — had lost some hearing, but the rate had already reached one in nine among adults 45 to 54 years old, the largest age group in the population.