UK sensory loss survey commences

A study exploring the sensory health of the UK has started in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to gather an accurate set of data on vision and hearing loss.  

The UK National Eye Health and Hearing Study was a collaboration between sensory loss charities and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).  Study lead and professor of ophthalmology at ARU, Rupert Bourne, said hearing impairment cost the UK £30bn each year and visual impairment cost £28bn. 

‘Despite these huge costs, the datasets currently used in the UK are of limited value due to a reliance on international data, or UK data samples that are either very small scale, or not generalisable to the population as a whole.