3 in 5 Brits at risk of “cocktail party effect”, survey finds  

New research investigating the hearing health of adults in Britain has discovered that three in five Brits struggle to hear conversations in noisy places, which is a phenomenon known as the “cocktail party effect”.

The “cocktail party effect” refers to people’s ability to focus on speech of interest in the presence of background noise, for example in noisy social settings.

The research, carried out by hearing health platform eargym, surveyed 2,001 UK adults to understand how hearing loss shows up in people’s daily lives, as well as the steps Brits take to protect their hearing.

When asked whether or not they struggle to hear conversations when in noisy environments like busy cafes or pubs, 62 percent said they “sometimes” or “occasionally” struggle to hear the person they’re speaking to over the background noise.

Eight percent of the adults surveyed said they “always” struggle to hear what somebody is saying to them when there is background noise, whilst just a quarter of Brits said they “never” struggle to hear speech in noise.

Despite the majority of adults surveyed having struggled to hear speech in noisy places at least some of the time, over two-fifths admitted they had never had a hearing check in their adult life.

This figure remained consistent across age groups, with 40 percent of 18–24-year-olds and 44 percent of over-55s saying they had never had their hearing tested as adults.

A quarter of respondents said they had had their hearing checked one or two times since turning 18, whilst just one percent of respondents had had their hearing checked ten times or more.

This is in stark contrast to the popularity of eye and dental checks, eargym highlights.

Respondents were four times more likely to have never had a hearing test than an eye test, with just eight percent of the adults surveyed saying they had never been to the opticians since turning 18. Almost a quarter of those surveyed said they had had between six and nine eye tests, with 12 percent visiting the opticians 10 or more times.

Dental checks were just as popular, with more than a third of adults visiting the dentist for a check-up or treatment six times or more. 30 percent of those surveyed could not remember how often they had been to the dentist, which suggests visits are frequent enough as to make it difficult to keep track.

The findings suggest that despite the social impact of hearing loss, it is rare for UK adults to get their hearing checked regularly, with hearing tests yet to become as routine as dental and eye check-ups.

Amanda Philpott, hearing health expert and CEO at eargym, commented: “The cocktail party effect might sound like a bit of fun, but if you’re frequently struggling to hear conversations in pubs and noisy places, it might not just be a result of too many cocktails. When adults notice changes in their hearing they often wait years before seeking help, when they could have been protecting and prolonging their hearing that entire time.

“If there’s one thing I would like people to take from this survey, it’s that we should all be checking our hearing just as often as we’re checking our teeth and eyes.

“Hearing loss is not an inevitable consequence of ageing. This is a common misconception. There’s lots we can do to protect and prolong our hearing health, from regular checks to hearing training and wearing ear protection.

“Our hearing has a pronounced impact on our social and cognitive wellbeing, so looking after it is essential for a long, happy and healthy life. Let’s make hearing checks as normal and routine as dental and eye check-ups.”

A previous survey from eargym revealed that a third of UK adults would feel uncomfortable wearing hearing aids in public.