The use of hearing aids reduces the risk and delays diagnosis of a series of age-related diseases among older adults with hearing loss, a study finds.
An American study has found that the use of hearing aids both reduces the risk and delays diagnosis of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, anxiety and injurious falls among older adults with hearing loss.
Reduces the risk
The risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease/dementia, anxiety/depression, and injurious falls within three years of being diagnosed with hearing loss, for those who used hearing aids, was around 11-18% lower (ratios 0.82, 0.89 and 0.87 respectively) compared to those who did not use hearing aids (ratio 1.00), according to the study from the University of Michigan.
Delays diagnosis
The study also found that the use of hearing aids also delayed a diagnosis. Within three years of a hearing loss diagnosis, a higher percentage remained free of a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, depression, anxiety or a fall.
About the study
The study included 114,862 adults, aged 66 years and older, diagnosed with hearing loss. 14,109 (12.3%) of the participants in the study used hearing aids.
The aim of the study was to examine the association between hearing aids and time to diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, anxiety or depression and injurious falls among adults, aged 66 years and older, within 3 years of a hearing loss diagnosis.
The study “Can Hearing Aids Delay Time to Diagnosis of Dementia, Depression, or Falls in Older Adults?“ was published in The Journal of The American Geriatrics Society.
Sources: www.onlinelibrary. wiley.com and The Journal of The American Geriatrics Society
