Recent trends in hearing and vision impairment and use of hearing aids and corrective lenses in US children

This study examines vision and hearing problems in US children based on two annual surveys, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). These surveys include questions on children's health, use of hearing aids (HA), glasses/contacts, and information on insurance status. Our objective is to report the prevalence of hearing and vision impairment and use of corrective devices in children, 0–19 years of age. Nationally-weighted estimates were derived using SAS and SUDAAN to adjust for survey sampling design. The number of children wearing glasses/contacts increased from 2000–2009 from 16.3 million (M) (19.7%) to 18.9 M (22.0%), while the number of children using HA decreased from 255,000 (0.31%) to 191,000 (0.22%). There were 2.2 M (2.7%) and 2.1 M (2.5%) children with some trouble hearing, and 1.7 M (2.1%) and 2.2 M (2.6%) with some trouble seeing (even with glasses/contacts), in 2000 and 2010, respectively. After allowing for HA use, the number with hearing difficulty increased from 437,000 (0.5%) to 619,000 (0.7%), while the number with vision difficulty (with glasses/contacts) increased from 638,000 (0.8%) to 989,000 (1.1%) in 2000 and 2009, respectively. During this decade, the percent of families below poverty level increased from 16.5% to 20.8% and public health insurance only use increased from 21.3% to 32.5%. The number of US children who had some trouble hearing and/or seeing increased from 3.8 M in 2000 to 4.3 M in 2010; about one-third of them had continued difficulty hearing or seeing even after allowing for use of HA or glasses/contacts.