Hearing Loss: People Using Hearing Aids Died Less Often
Graded Moderate — an individual-data meta-analysis of three population studies with 13,851 people, replicated in Norway; being observational, it cannot establish cause and effect.
- Design
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- Participants
- 13,851
- Duration
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- Funding
- Macquarie University; NIDCD/NIH; Icelandic Heart Association; NIOSH/CDC…
More severe hearing loss was linked to higher mortality, while current hearing-aid use was linked to lower mortality.
The worse people heard, the higher their mortality in large population studies, including deaths from cardiovascular disease. Researchers pooled individual data from 13,851 people in Australia, Iceland and the USA whose hearing had been measured with a hearing test. Even mild hearing loss was linked to higher mortality, and the link was strongest from moderate hearing loss upward. People currently using hearing aids, by contrast, died less often, and a Norwegian study of 50,277 adults showed the same pattern. These observational data cannot show whether hearing aids themselves extend life; the authors call this an important question for future research.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: One author's salary is co-funded by the hearing implant maker Cochlear Ltd.
Disclaimer: Research summaries are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.