Clinical characteristics of the “Gap” between the prevalence and incidence of hearing loss using National Health Insurance Service data

Abstract

Hearing loss is the inability to hear speech or sounds well, owing to a number of causes. This study aimed to simultaneously determine the prevalence, incidence, and the gap between them in hearing loss in South Korean patients at the same point in time as well as to identify patients who have not recovered from hearing loss. We examined the prevalence and incidence of patients diagnosed with hearing loss in the National Health Insurance Service database over an 11-year period from 2010 to 2020. The difference between prevalence and incidence was defined by the term “Gap”. Clinical characteristics such as sex and age per 100,000 individuals were examined. As of 2020, the domestic prevalence and incidence rates obtained in this study were 1.84% and 1.57%, respectively, and the prevalence and incidence rates increased with increasing age. The gap was 0.27%, which showed a steady increasing trend from 2011 to 2020, and the total medical expenses increased accordingly. Because hearing loss is an irreversible disease, this Gap could mean many things, but it could be seen as a patient who has never recovered from hearing loss.