Moderate-to-severe hearing loss is linked to higher dementia rates in seniors, while correcting this loss is associated with a lower prevalence of dementia, investigators say.
The findings come from a U.S. population study sample of more than 2,400 Medicare beneficiaries, about half of whom were over age 80. Dementia rates among participants with moderate-to-severe hearing loss were 61% higher than in participants with normal hearing, the data showed. Among those with hearing loss, hearing aid use was linked to 32% lower prevalence of dementia.
Hearing impairment is very common in people with dementia. It is thought to account for 8% of dementia cases globally, making it the “largest modifiable risk factor for dementia at a population level,” the researchers reported.
The results support public health actions to improve hearing care access, including “increased availability of affordable hearing aids … and Medicare provision of hearing aids and rehabilitation services,” they wrote.
Use requires support
In an effort to make the devices more accessible to the general public, the Food and Drug Administration in August 2022 established a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids that don’t require oversight by audiologists for purchase.
The FDA’s goal was to make hearing aids less costly and to provide more flexibility in where and how patients can attain them. But adults with dementia may require multiple supports to optimize the use of hearing aids, from help with fitting them to social reinforcement, other research has found.
The current study “refines what we’ve observed about the link between hearing loss and dementia, and builds support for public health action to improve hearing care access,” lead author Alison Huang, PhD, MPH, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore said.
Full findings were published in a research letter in JAMA.
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