Hearing health
Partnering with hearing experts to deliver the best care possible
ON THE FRONTLINE OF HEARING HEALTH
As the connections between hearing loss, cognition and health become clearer, the future of audiology is rapidly changing – with an increasing focus on more holistic hearing health.
It’s a complex and fast-moving landscape but rest assured – we’ll guide you on this journey with the latest research, tools, training and more.
Insights
Latest Studies
Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission
The 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on dementia provides new hopeful evidence about dementia prevention, intervention, and care. As people live longer, the number of people who live with dementia continues to rise, even as the age-specific incidence decreases in high-income countries, emphasising the need to identify and implement prevention approaches. We have summarised the new research since the 2020 report of the Lancet Commission on dementia, prioritising systematic reviews and meta-analyses and triangulating findings from different studies showing how cognitive and physical reserve develop across the life course and how reducing vascular damage (eg, by reducing smoking and treating high blood pressure) is likely to have contributed to a reduction in age-related dementia incidence. Evidence is increasing and is now stronger than before that tackling the many risk factors for dementia that we modelled previously (ie, less education, hearing loss, hypertension, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption [ie, >21 UK units, equivalent to >12 US units], traumatic brain injury [TBI], air pollution, and social isolation) reduces the risk of developing dementia. In this report, we add the new compelling evidence that untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol are risk factors for dementia.
Adult-onset hearing loss and incident cognitive impairment and dementia – A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
We comprehensively summarized the cohort evidence to date on adult-onset hearing loss as risk factor for incident cognitive impairment and dementia, and examined the evidence for dose-response, risk for various dementia subtypes, and other moderators. Previous meta-analyses were less comprehensive. We included cohort studies with participants without dementia and with hearing assessments at baseline, minimum 2 years follow-up and incident cognitive outcomes. We identified fifty studies (N=1,548,754). Cohort studies consistently support that adult-onset hearing loss increases the risk of incident cognitive decline, dementia, MCI, and ADD.
Hearing Loss and Dementia: Where to From Here?
More recently, hearing loss has been shown as a marker of risk for dementia. However, it is not known whether this association represents a causal impact of hearing loss, nor whether treating hearing loss may help prevent dementia. Most studies on relationships between hearing loss and cognitive outcomes are observational, are at risk of confounding, and cannot reach conclusions about causation. Encouraging policymakers, patients, and other health care practitioners to address hearing loss in terms of dementia prevention may be inappropriate on the grounds of both relevance at individual level and lack of clear evidence of benefit. We suggest that treating hearing loss may have important benefits in preventing or delaying diagnosis of dementia via improving orientation and functioning in daily life, without changing the underlying pathology. Rather than linking hearing loss to dementia risk, we suggest a positive message focusing on the known benefits of addressing hearing loss in terms of improved communication, quality of life, and healthy aging.
Association between hearing aid use and mortality in adults with hearing loss in the USA: a mortality follow-up study of a cross-sectional cohort
Regular hearing aid use was associated with lower risks of mortality than in never users in US adults with hearing loss when accounting for age, hearing loss, and other potential confounders. Future research is needed to investigate the potential protective role of hearing aid use against mortality for adults with hearing loss.
Hearing Loss, Hearing Aid Use, and Risk of Dementia in Older Adults
The results of this cohort study suggest that hearing loss was associated with increased dementia risk, especially among people not using hearing aids, suggesting that hearing aids might prevent or delay the onset and progression of dementia. The risk estimates were lower than in previous studies, highlighting the need for more high-quality longitudinal studies.
Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission
The 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on dementia provides new hopeful evidence about dementia prevention, intervention, and care. As people live longer, the number of people who live with dementia continues to rise, even as the age-specific incidence decreases in high-income countries, emphasising the need to identify and implement prevention approaches. We have summarised the new research since the 2020 report of the Lancet Commission on dementia, prioritising systematic reviews and meta-analyses and triangulating findings from different studies showing how cognitive and physical reserve develop across the life course and how reducing vascular damage (eg, by reducing smoking and treating high blood pressure) is likely to have contributed to a reduction in age-related dementia incidence. Evidence is increasing and is now stronger than before that tackling the many risk factors for dementia that we modelled previously (ie, less education, hearing loss, hypertension, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption [ie, >21 UK units, equivalent to >12 US units], traumatic brain injury [TBI], air pollution, and social isolation) reduces the risk of developing dementia. In this report, we add the new compelling evidence that untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol are risk factors for dementia.
July 2024
Adult-onset hearing loss and incident cognitive impairment and dementia – A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
We comprehensively summarized the cohort evidence to date on adult-onset hearing loss as risk factor for incident cognitive impairment and dementia, and examined the evidence for dose-response, risk for various dementia subtypes, and other moderators. Previous meta-analyses were less comprehensive. We included cohort studies with participants without dementia and with hearing assessments at baseline, minimum 2 years follow-up and incident cognitive outcomes. We identified fifty studies (N=1,548,754). Cohort studies consistently support that adult-onset hearing loss increases the risk of incident cognitive decline, dementia, MCI, and ADD.
May 2024
Hearing Loss and Dementia: Where to From Here?
More recently, hearing loss has been shown as a marker of risk for dementia. However, it is not known whether this association represents a causal impact of hearing loss, nor whether treating hearing loss may help prevent dementia. Most studies on relationships between hearing loss and cognitive outcomes are observational, are at risk of confounding, and cannot reach conclusions about causation. Encouraging policymakers, patients, and other health care practitioners to address hearing loss in terms of dementia prevention may be inappropriate on the grounds of both relevance at individual level and lack of clear evidence of benefit. We suggest that treating hearing loss may have important benefits in preventing or delaying diagnosis of dementia via improving orientation and functioning in daily life, without changing the underlying pathology. Rather than linking hearing loss to dementia risk, we suggest a positive message focusing on the known benefits of addressing hearing loss in terms of improved communication, quality of life, and healthy aging.
May 2024
Association between hearing aid use and mortality in adults with hearing loss in the USA: a mortality follow-up study of a cross-sectional cohort
Regular hearing aid use was associated with lower risks of mortality than in never users in US adults with hearing loss when accounting for age, hearing loss, and other potential confounders. Future research is needed to investigate the potential protective role of hearing aid use against mortality for adults with hearing loss.
January 2024
Hearing Loss, Hearing Aid Use, and Risk of Dementia in Older Adults
The results of this cohort study suggest that hearing loss was associated with increased dementia risk, especially among people not using hearing aids, suggesting that hearing aids might prevent or delay the onset and progression of dementia. The risk estimates were lower than in previous studies, highlighting the need for more high-quality longitudinal studies.
January 2024