Using hearing aids could help you live longer
Using a hearing aid may help you live longer, a Lancet study suggests.
Data indicate that the risk of an early death for somebody with hearing loss is reduced by 24 per cent if they regularly wear an aid compared with never using one.
Scientists say that it is possible the devices have a protective effect and could help stave off death by boosting mental health and cognition.
Previous studies have shown that hearing loss increases the risk of an early death and the condition has also been linked to an increased risk of dementia.
However, this study is the first time it has been shown that wearing a hearing aid helps reverse this risk and lowers the risk of death.
Scientists from Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California analysed data from more than 1,800 people who had hearing loss from a 13-year study run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US.
But just one in eight adults in the study with hearing issues were regular hearing aid wearers and 1,483 never used one.
Hearing aid may play ‘protective role’
Data found that people who shunned the gadgets were almost a quarter more likely to die than regular users irrespective of how extreme the hearing loss was.
Occasional use did not reduce the risk of death, the study found, indicating that only sustained adoption of the technology has a life-extending role.
“We found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 24 per cent lower risk of mortality than those who never wore them,” study lead researcher Dr Janet Choi said.
“These results are exciting because they suggest that hearing aids may play a protective role in people’s health and prevent early death.”
According to hearing loss charity RNID, 12 million adults in the UK are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus and an estimated seven million people could benefit from hearing aids but only about two million use them.
The researchers hope the findings, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity journal, will encourage more people to wear hearing aids.
The mechanism underpinning why hearing loss and hearing aids impact on risk of death is unknown but previous work has shown hearing aid use lowers levels of depression and dementia.
‘Reduce risk of cognitive decline’
Dr Choi believes improvements in mental health and cognition that come with improved hearing can promote better overall health, which may improve life span.
Social issues remain a barrier to hearing aid uptake with stigma, discretion of device and difficulty finding devices often cited problems.
Crystal Rolfe, director of health at RNID, said: “Hearing aids bring enormous benefits for people with hearing loss.
“Research shows that wearing hearing aids may reduce the risk of cognitive decline, and it is well known that they have positive effects on physical, social, emotional and mental wellbeing.
“Now it’s possible that hearing aids may even help people with hearing loss live longer, and we would welcome more research to understand the link.
“If you think you might have hearing loss, make checking your hearing your new year’s resolution – the benefits could be limitless.”
Dr Choi, who has no hearing in her left ear and did not wear a hearing aid until her 30s, is also working on an AI-powered database that helps match people with the best hearing aid for them.
