Demographics of Persons under the age of 21 years with Hearing Aids

Demographic Details
of Persons under the age of 21 years
with a Hearing Impairment who are
fitted with a Hearing Aid or Cochlear
Implant - 2011
©Australian Hearing 2012 Page 1 of 33

SUMMARY
This circular contains summary data on children fitted with hearing aids or cochlear implants in
Australia, who were under the age of 21 years at 31 December 2011 and who are provided with
audiological and hearing aid or speech processor support services through Australian Hearing.
The data provides information at national and State / Territory level and has been collated from
Australian Hearing’s electronic client and record management system databases (as a “snapshot”)
and includes:
o
o
o
o
Number of hearing impaired children
Number of newly fitted children in the 2011 calendar year
Number of children by hearing loss groups
Prevalence of hearing impairment.
Hearing loss in the better ear is categorized according to the following groupings: 0 – 40 dBHL, 41 –
60 dBHL; 61 – 90 dBHL and 91+dBHL. National data have also been presented using hearing loss
categories described in all demographic reports prior to 2011, to facilitate comparison with past
data, ie: 0-30 dBHL; 31-60dBHL; 61-90 dBHL and 91+dBHL.
Differences in other data and calculations shown for similar birth years in previous reports prior to
2007 are due to the timing of the ‘snapshot” nature of the report (data were previously collated on
31 March each year) – i.e. the dynamics of the child population characteristics and demography in
the database, updated information and calculation rounding at the time the report was compiled. In
particular, actions across the organization that have taken place to review and update the
information on all aided child clients in the database, have also affected the “snapshot” counts and
calculations.
The major characteristics of the report show:
All aided and implanted children up to 21 years of age at 31 December 2011 who are
identified as being ‘current and active’ as at 31 December 2011
Data on children who were first fitted with hearing aids from 1 January to 31 December
2011.
Care should be taken when comparing information from previous reports, and particularly prior to
2007, due to their differing parameters.
Taking the above comments into account this report shows that
On 31 st December 2011, Australian Hearing supported 16325 clients under the age of 21
years who had been fitted with a hearing aid or cochlear implant, a 1.4% increase compared
with last year’s count of 16096. The growth in the numbers of aided children and young
Australians under 21 years of age appears to be slowing, after a rapid increase from 2007 –
2010.
©Australian Hearing 2012 Page 2 of 33

Of the total group of aided children 1565 identified as being Indigenous (9.6%), similar to last
year’s result of 10%
2009 children were fitted with their first set of hearing aids in the 2011 Calendar year
285 were

Summary of demographic details of persons under the
age of 21 years with a hearing impairment who are fitted
with a hearing aid or cochlear implant at 31 December
2011
Australian Hearing provided services to 16325 children under the age of 21 years who were fitted
with hearing aids and/or cochlear implants at the end of 2011. The distribution of these children
by state/territory is shown below.
Figure 1: National Aided Persons under 21 years of Age by State and Territory as at 31 December 2011
NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National
Number 4724 3874 3490 1879 1163 259 347 589 16325
Proportion of
clients (%) 28.9% 23.7% 21.4% 11.5% 7.1% 1.6% 2.1% 3.6% 100.0%
Table 1. Total Children Fitted with Hearing Aids (2011)
Over the past five years the aided child client base has grown by close to 24%, with WA, SA and NT
showing the biggest increases. However the growth rate appears to be slowing overall.
NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National
Increase 14.44% 13.08% 30.42% 58.83% 34.92% 6.15% 4.20% 85.80% 23.97%
Table 2: Growth in the number of aided children from 2006-2011
©Australian Hearing 2012 Page 4 of 33

Figure 2. Growth in the numbers of aided children, by state, from 2006-2011
Figure 3. Growth in the total number of aided children

State NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National
Number 492 469 479 230 150 34 34 121 2009
Percentage 24.5 23.3 23.8 11.4 7.5 1.7 1.7 6.0 100.0
Table 3. Children first fitted with hearing aids in 2011
Figure 4 shows the number of children first fitted in 2011 according to their birth year and age. The
greatest numbers of children fitted for the first time were born in 2011, which reflects the impact of
Universal Newborn Hearing Screening. However another significant peak in first fittings occurs
around school entry age.
Over time, as early identification and fittings continue, the proportion of children being fitted for the
first time in later birth years may reduce to a certain degree. However, children with late onset
and/or deteriorating hearing losses or with other reasons for later aid fitting will continue to be fitted
for the first time at older ages.
Figure 4. Number of children first fitted with hearing aids in Calendar Year 2011
Figure 5 shows the numbers of children who are fitted at less than 6 months of age and less than 12
months of age, at 31 December 2011. The “Less than 12 months” category includes children who
were fitted before 6 months of age, and will not necessarily include all children born in 2011 who
were fitted by 12 months of age.
©Australian Hearing 2012 Page 6 of 33

Note: Data as of 31 Dec. 2011. Not all
children born in 2011 will have been
fitted with hearing aids by Dec 31, 2011.
Figure 5. Children first fitted with hearing aids under 6 months and under 12 months of age.
Expected and Actual numbers of children fitted @

AUSTRALIA
Expected number based on 1.1 per 1000 births
Birth year Expected Fit.less.6mo Fit.less.12mo#
% expected fitted

VICTORIA
Expected number based on 1.1 per 1000 births
Birth year Expected Fit.less.6mo Fit.less.12mo#
% expected fitted

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Expected number based on 1.1 per 1000 births
Birth year Expected Fit.less.6mo Fit.less.12mo#
% expected fitted

TASMANIA
Expected number based on 1.1 per 1000 births
Birth year Expected Fit.less.6mo Fit.less.12mo#
% expected fitted

NORTHERN TERRITORY
Expected number based on 1.1 per 1000 births
Birth year Expected Fit.less.6mo Fit.less.12mo#
% expected fitted

Birth year
(age in yrs) NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National
1991 (20) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
1992 (19) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
1993 (18) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 5
1994 (17) 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 4
1995 (16) 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 5
1996 (15) 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4
1997 (14) 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 4 9
1998 (13) 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 7
1999 (12) 4 1 2 5 2 0 0 5 19
2000 (11) 0 1 2 4 1 0 0 5 13
2001 (10) 1 1 3 3 2 0 0 10 20
2002 (9) 1 0 2 1 3 0 0 7 14
2003 (8) 2 0 10 7 3 1 0 8 31
2004 (7) 2 0 8 7 1 0 0 16 34
2005 (6) 2 1 13 7 2 0 0 11 36
2006 (5) 3 0 4 4 3 0 0 5 19
2007 (4) 4 0 5 1 0 0 0 4 14
2008 (3) 1 1 4 2 2 0 0 5 15
2009 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
2010 (1) 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 5
2011 (

Birth
year NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National
1991 5 5 16 6 3 0 0 8 43
1992 5 5 27 11 4 0 0 12 64
1993 5 1 29 11 2 0 0 17 65
1994 7 2 28 11 3 0 0 11 62
1995 3 2 30 11 4 0 0 18 68
1996 13 2 27 9 9 0 0 21 81
1997 9 1 29 13 10 0 1 33 96
1998 11 5 30 19 6 0 1 33 105
1999 16 2 30 23 5 1 1 36 114
2000 11 3 41 35 6 0 0 51 147
2001 11 3 36 27 9 1 0 47 134
2002 8 3 33 23 5 0 0 39 111
2003 6 2 35 29 12 1 0 40 125
2004 10 3 37 31 5 0 0 38 124
2005 5 1 24 29 3 0 0 23 85
2006 6 0 12 12 6 0 0 12 48
2007 10 1 16 5 1 0 0 11 44
2008 4 3 9 5 2 0 0 7 30
2009 3 0 0 3 1 0 0 2 9
2010 2 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 7
2011 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
Total 152 45 493 313 97 3 3 459 1565
Table 14. Indigenous Children

Figure 6. Indigenous children as a proportion of the total aided children in each state/territory
Hearing Loss Distribution
Hearing loss is described according to the Three-Frequency-Average hearing loss (3FAHL) in the
better ear, that is, the average of hearing thresholds at 500 Hz, 1000 Hz and 2000Hz in the betterhearing
ear in dBHL. Prior to 2011 the 3FAHL groupings were: 0-30dBHL, 31-60dBHL; 61-90dBHL and
91+dBHL. In 2011 the hearing loss groupings were changed to reflect the fact that newborn hearing
screening aims to detect losses of moderate or greater degree: 0 – 40 dBHL, 41 – 60 dBHL; 61 – 90
dBHL and 91+dBHL. National data have been presented using both old and new hearing loss
categories in order to facilitate comparison with previous years’ data.
The majority of aided young persons under 21 years of age have a hearing loss of moderate or lesser
degree in the better ear. Figure 6, Tables 14 and 15 show the hearing loss distribution according to
the most recently-recorded 3FAHL in the better ear according to the new hearing loss categories;
Tables 16 and 17 show the same data according to the hearing loss categories used in previous years,
to enable comparison with past data.
©Australian Hearing 2012 Page 15 of 33

Figure 7. Distribution of all aided children and young adults by 3FAHL Better Ear as at 31 December 2011.
NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National

NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National

Hearing loss amongst children fitted for the first time in 2011.
As described above, and seen in Figure 4, there were two main peaks in the age of fitting for children
who received their first hearing aids in 2011. Table 19 and Figure 9 show that majority of children
who were fitted at school entry age and above have a mild degree of hearing loss in the better ear.
Birth year
Latest 3FAHL
0-40 41-60 61-90 91+ Unknown
Total
Percentage
1991 25 1 2 1 0 29 1.4
1992 16 2 0 0 1 19 0.9
1993 22 7 1 0 0 30 1.5
1994 35 5 0 0 0 40 2.0
1995 37 5 1 0 0 43 2.1
1996 39 4 0 0 2 45 2.2
1997 35 6 0 0 0 41 2.0
1998 51 3 2 0 0 56 2.8
1999 68 5 1 1 1 76 3.8
2000 72 16 2 1 1 92 4.6
2001 79 11 3 0 0 93 4.6
2002 82 4 2 1 1 90 4.5
2003 117 9 0 1 2 129 6.4
2004 153 17 4 1 1 176 8.8
2005 148 18 3 2 5 176 8.8
2006 115 33 2 2 3 155 7.7
2007 87 19 12 3 2 123 6.1
2008 52 24 4 4 5 89 4.4
2009 40 24 12 7 4 87 4.3
2010 76 58 31 16 5 186 9.3
2011 89 66 40 35 4 234 11.6
Total 1438 337 122 75 37 2009 100.0
Table 19. Profile of children first fitted with hearing aids in 2011, by better-ear 3 Frequency Average
Hearing Loss (dBHL) and year of birth.
©Australian Hearing 2012 Page 18 of 33

Figure 9. Latest 3FAHL and birth year of children first fitted with hearing aids during 2011.
Gender
Males comprise a slightly higher proportion of the aided child & young Australians client base.
Gender NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National
Female 44.6% 45.2% 44.6% 46.9% 48.3% 38.6% 48.4% 44.8% 45.3%
Male 53.3% 51.6% 49.7% 50.8% 48.3% 57.9% 47.0% 54.2% 51.5%
Data unavailable 2.0% 3.2% 5.7% 2.3% 3.4% 3.5% 4.6% 1.0% 3.3%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Table 20. Percentage Gender of Children

Birth
year NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National
1991 217 164 143 54 42 22 15 10 667
1992 250 200 151 80 56 12 18 17 784
1993 242 210 134 73 51 13 22 24 769
1994 263 201 163 82 57 15 13 16 810
1995 251 222 191 92 71 15 16 23 881
1996 266 214 183 107 71 16 20 30 907
1997 260 220 200 111 71 18 20 38 938
1998 305 235 209 120 68 18 21 43 1019
1999 307 233 216 128 67 18 23 47 1039
2000 287 216 255 158 63 9 17 63 1068
2001 290 240 222 137 91 15 16 54 1065
2002 292 223 216 129 64 12 21 45 1002
2003 257 203 193 138 92 13 21 46 963
2004 236 220 200 115 56 13 20 46 906
2005 193 168 172 101 51 6 22 37 750
2006 217 162 142 76 49 12 14 18 690
2007 156 137 132 55 34 9 12 17 552
2008 148 122 114 37 31 9 14 9 484
2009 118 107 100 42 34 8 9 3 421
2010 99 104 102 26 31 5 7 2 376
2011 70 73 52 18 13 1 6 1 234
Total 4724 3874 3490 1879 1163 259 347 589 16325
Table 21. Children

Birth
year NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT National
1991 5 6 8 4 2 3 1 0 29
1992 6 5 5 1 2 0 0 0 19
1993 11 8 4 1 1 1 0 4 30
1994 13 7 10 2 3 2 1 2 40
1995 12 11 10 1 6 1 0 2 43
1996 11 9 7 7 3 2 1 5 45
1997 11 9 8 4 3 1 1 4 41
1998 13 13 14 10 5 0 0 1 56
1999 22 13 16 12 6 1 0 6 76
2000 14 17 36 13 5 1 1 5 92
2001 20 21 17 14 8 2 0 11 93
2002 25 15 25 9 9 0 0 7 90
2003 35 15 29 21 12 5 3 9 129
2004 35 41 40 26 5 3 5 21 176
2005 40 33 47 16 15 1 5 19 176
2006 37 31 35 21 18 3 3 7 155
2007 30 31 29 16 8 1 1 7 123
2008 24 25 20 6 5 2 2 5 89
2009 17 27 22 13 4 1 0 3 87
2010 41 59 45 15 17 3 4 2 186
2011 70 73 52 18 13 1 6 1 234
Total 492 469 479 230 150 34 34 121 2009
Table 22. Children

Aided children
Year first fitted
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Total
1991 15 77 82 41 48 54 45 28 18 24 19 14 21 10 23 22 23 25 22 27 29 667
1992 12 77 65 52 58 56 48 51 40 31 27 31 39 21 24 21 39 37 36 19 784
1993 19 81 50 45 66 72 63 50 29 37 26 23 28 24 28 25 41 32 30 769
1994 25 85 75 43 58 62 53 59 34 31 31 35 37 24 33 41 44 40 810
1995 15 89 77 48 68 75 72 52 55 51 38 36 46 39 39 38 43 881
1996 27 92 82 55 62 78 66 63 50 48 50 37 49 49 54 45 907
1997 29 90 85 69 62 74 92 79 63 53 43 47 57 54 41 938
1998 31 87 75 64 72 93 86 75 92 75 66 74 73 56 1019
1999 26 107 66 67 64 96 99 108 94 87 66 83 76 1039
Birth year 2000 41 91 90 63 67 108 125 92 106 99 94 92 1068
2001 38 102 71 63 80 115 131 140 134 98 93 1065
2002 40 116 74 71 89 94 151 154 123 90 1002
2003 69 99 73 62 75 132 170 154 129 963
2004 84 100 71 52 88 136 199 176 906
2005 108 97 47 62 108 152 176 750
2006 131 136 75 88 105 155 690
2007 149 115 80 85 123 552
2008 178 126 91 89 484
2009 200 134 87 421
2010 190 186 376
2011 234 234
Total 15 89 178 212 250 348 408 457 515 596 609 675 795 852 970 1136 1167 1457 1721 1866 2009 16325
Table 23. Children under 21 years of age with hearing aids and cochlear implants, by birth year and calendar year first fitted
©Australian Hearing 2012 Page 22 of 33

Age at first fitting
Latest 3FAHL
State

Summary Tables - Age at first fitting and 3 Frequency average HL details (TRADITIONAL 3FAHL Groups)
Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
AUSTRALIA
Age at first fitting
Latest 3FAHL
Birth year Births
12 to 18 to
Total

Summary Tables - Age at first fitting and 3 Frequency average HL details (NEW 3FAHL Groups)
Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
AUSTRALIA
Age at first fitting
Latest 3FAHL
Birth year Births

Age at first fitting
12 to
Birth year Births

Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
VICTORIA
Age at first fitting
Latest 3FAHL
12 to 18 to
Total

Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
QUEENSLAND
Age at first fitting
12 to
Birth year Births

Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Age at first fitting
12 to
Birth year Births

Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Age at first fitting
Birth
12 to
year Births

Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
TASMANIA
Age at first fitting
12 to
Birth year Births

Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Age at first fitting
Latest 3FAHL
Birth year Births

Details of Persons under the age of 21 years with a Hearing Impairment who are fitted with a Hearing Aid
Age at first fitting
12 to
Birth year Births