Consumers took over 13,000 phone-based hearing screening tests on FreeHearingTest.org in 2020. Read below for a deep dive into the data.
How Many Callers Used Mobile Phones vs. Landline Phones?
We didn't know how many people would use mobile phones vs. landlines when we launched FreeHearingTest.org. It turns out about 2 out of every three people used a mobile phone to take the screening test.
Since most callers likely were seniors, this high percentage of mobile phones surprised us a bit. We can't tell if callers called in from smartphones, as the data just tells us mobile or landline. Even with two-thirds of callers using a mobile phone, landline use still makes up a good portion of callers.
How Many Callers Finished the Test?
We struggled to come up with the correct number of questions when building the test. Push the caller through too many and he/she will likely hang up before finishing. Offering too few questions makes generating an accurate result difficult. So how many callers finished the test? Just under half. This is something we can definitely improve moving forward.
How Many Callers Had Potential Hearing Loss?
Upon launching the test, we did not have a good idea of how many callers would show potential hearing loss. After crunching the data, it turns out that over half of callers screening test results showed signs of potential hearing loss. 46.5% showed potential moderate hearing loss and 11.5% showed potential severe hearing loss.
Conclusion and Looking Forward
2020 showed us that consumers would take a phone-based hearing screening test without too much trouble. We found that we can make our test easier to help more people complete it. Finally, we found that over half of our callers showed signs of potential hearing loss and should follow-up to get the assistance they need.
Doug Breaker
Doug is the CEO of MDHearing.com, a leading direct to consumer seller of hearing aids. MDHearing launched FreeHearingTest.org with the mission to offer free hearing screening tests to everyone, and free hearing aids to those in need.
