Studies have shown that people with hearing impairments have a lower chance of getting dementia and a slower rate of cognitive decline (including memory loss). It was discovered that patients with hearing loss who used hearing aids or cochlear implants had a 19% slower rate of cognitive decline over time. Use of these tools also resulted in a 3% increase in results across a variety of cognitive tests, including measures of an individual’s ability to think critically and solve problems. The results of the latest meta-analysis were reported in JAMA Neurology.
According to Dr. Susan Mitchell, Head of Policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, there is “increasing clear evidence” that people who experience progressive hearing loss as they age are at an increased risk of developing dementia. Although this study adds to the weight of the evidence supporting this connection, many concerns remain unresolved.
Choice of Studies. Full-length publications in reputable medical journals that report on randomized clinical trials or extensive observational studies evaluating the impact of hearing therapies on cognitive function in people with hearing loss.
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards were followed throughout the review’s methodology. Patients with hearing loss are more likely to have cognitive decline and dementia, thus two writers separately searched the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases for research examining the impact of hearing therapies on these conditions.
The Primary Outcomes and Metrics
In the case of binary outcomes, we utilized maximally adjusted hazard ratios (HRs), while in the case of continuous outcomes, we used ratios of means. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were used to identify the causes of variation, and visual examination, the Egger test, and trim and fill were employed to detect any signs of publication bias.
Thirty-one research including 137 484 individuals were included after screening 3243 studies, and nineteen of them were used for quantitative analyses. In a meta-analysis of 8 trials with a total of 126 903 participants and follow-up periods ranging from 2 to 25 years, researchers found that those using hearing aids had a considerably reduced risk of cognitive deterioration than those without.
