A just-published study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is the first one to show that wearing hearing aids reduces the cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.
A just-published study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is the first one to show that wearing hearing aids reduces the cognitive decline associated with hearing loss. As we have reported in earlier blogs, cognitive decline is associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias.
In “Self-Reported Hearing Loss: Hearing Aids and Cognitive Decline in Elderly Adults: A 25-year Study,” researchers at the Neuropsychology and Epidemiology of Aging at the University of Bordeaux, France followed 3,670 adults, age 65 and older over a 25-year period. Professor Helene Amieva, a leading researcher, headed up the study which was part of the Personnes Agees QUID cohort (PAQUID), a group of subjects convened specifically to study brain aging. The study included 137 older adults with major hearing loss, 1139 with moderate problems, and 2394 with no hearing trouble. Hearing loss was significantly associated with greater cognitive decline scores at the start of the study and during the 25-year follow-up period.
The study shows that participants with hearing loss, but not those with hearing loss who used hearing aids, had greater declines in cognitive function during follow-up over the years. Simply put, the study found no difference in the rate of cognitive decline between people with no reported hearing loss and people with hearing loss who used hearing aids. By contrast, hearing loss was significantly associated with lower baseline scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a well-recognized test of cognitive function, during the 25-year follow-up period.
The study shows that cognitive decline is accelerated for the people who have hearing loss and don’t use hearing aids. It provides evidence for the first time that hearing aids are a prevention against accelerated cognitive decline in later years. Anyone with a hearing loss could benefit from the preventive effects of hearing aids, especially if they are concerned about long-term cognitive health.
To read more about the study, click here.