About 20 percent of Americans, 48 million, report some degree of hearing loss. It’s a major public health issue that is the third most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease. Gradual hearing loss can affect people of all ages, from mild to profound, but at age 65, one out of three people has a hearing loss, according to www.hearingloss.org.

 About 60 percent of the people with hearing loss are either in the workforce or in educational settings. From 2000 to 2015, the number of Americans with hearing loss has doubled.