Hearing and vision: Health in Sweden: The National Health Report 2012. Chapter 17

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of public health 2012, Vol.40 (9(Suppl)), p.287
• Main Authors: Danermark, Berth, Hanning, Marianne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Social Medicine; Socialmedicin
• ISSN: 1651-1905; 1403-4948
• DOI: 10.1177/1403494812459621

Over a million people in Sweden have difficulty hearing what is said in a conversation between several people. Almost twice as many young people today consider themselves hard of hearing than was the case 10 years ago. However, this self-reported increase has not been confirmed by studies of hearing loss. At least 10,000 deaf and hearing-impaired people are under the age of 20. In most cases, their hearing impairments are the result of hereditary factors. People who have impaired hearing report having worse health than those with normal hearing. This is particularly true of younger, actively employed people. Many people who are hard of hearing suffer unnecessarily because they lack the hearing-aid devices they need. Almost half the people who would benefit from a hearing aid do not have one. Only a quarter of hearing-impaired people use other assistive listening devices, such as amplified sound in telephones and doorbells. One in every two Swedes over the age of 16 needs glasses to read plain text in a daily newspaper. One per cent of the population is unable to read text in a daily newspaper with or without glasses to help them. It is slightly less common today than 10 years ago for older women to have impaired vision. This is probably because cataracts, the most common cause of impaired vision, are operable. Most people given cataract surgery regain very good vision. The most common cause of blindness in older people is age-related degeneration of the macula lutea. The treatment currently available is only effective with a small group of people among those who suffer from acute problems. Strabism can result in vision impairment if not treated early. Child healthcare centres and schools offer screening procedures for detecting strabism. As a result, the percentage of people in the population with this condition has declined to just under 2 per cent.