Research shows that about 43% of patients over 60 may be missing fundamental health information due to hearing loss. At a time when following medical advice is so crucial, patients could be missing important details about their care.

Hearing Loss – A Global Epidemic

Hearing loss is a major problem. Disabling hearing loss is an issue globally for around a third of people who are 65 or older.

But surprisingly, if we go a little deeper we discover that only 30% of those people with debilitating hearing loss have taken steps to improve their situation. In terms of medical care, this is bad news.

The Importance of Communication in Health Care

A major cause of death is medical error and miscommunication is a leading cause of medical error. A study from Harvard revealed that as many as 37% of severe injuries that resulted from medical errors could have been avoided with better communication. Lives could be saved if important information could be better communicated with patients.

How Hearing Loss Effects Medical Care

Statistics can be a little fuzzy and intangible so let's look at essential information you could miss when speaking with pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals.

With regards to reaching health goals, the advice of health care professionals is a key factor. Maybe they're explaining healthy insulin or blood pressure levels. There are particular things that can harm you if they are not controlled in a way that your health care professional recommends. Managing your condition could become a problem if you miss essential advice.

You might be in a situation where your medical provider informs you that you require medical care. If you don't understand fully what the doctor is communicating, you may miss important warning signs and delay getting help.

There may be crucial details about dangerous side effects of medications which your pharmacist is trying to make you aware of. You think you heard everything but you miss an important detail and wind up hospitalized.

Maybe you receive a warning about some hazardous activity from your physical therapist. You might suffer a serious fall because you missed that recommendation.

Why Communicating Medical Information is Especially Challenging

Taking medical data in the proper context is particularly difficult. When you miss something as a result of your hearing loss, you use context to attempt to fill in what you missed. Compensating for hearing loss is something your brain is actually rather good at. So good, as a matter of fact, that it could even make you believe that you heard something you didn't actually hear.

The meaning of a sentence can be completely changed, when addressing medical information, with something as simple as a "don't" or "not". One misunderstood number could completely alter a dosage, a goal, or a danger zone.

In medical care the smallest details make a big difference. When those small details are missed, it can produce severe medical problems.