Hearing aids may slow mental decline in hard-of-hearing elderly

Past research has shown a link between hearing loss andsteeper cognitive decline in old age, but few have tracked thatrelationship over a quarter century.

"With a large sample size and 25 years of follow-up ofparticipants, this study clearly confirms that hearing loss isassociated with cognitive decline in older adults," said thestudy's lead author, Helene Amieva. "Using hearing aidsattenuates cognitive decline in elders presenting with hearingloss."

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Amieva, a researcher at the University of Bordeaux inFrance, pointed out that about 30 per cent of people age 65 andolder have some degree of hearing loss and that's true of 70per cent to 90 per cent of those aged 85 and older.

To see if hearing loss contributes to cognitive decline withage, and if hearing aids might offset that effect, theresearchers used data from a large, long-term study of people inFrance who were 65 and older and living at home, rather than ininstitutional settings, when they were first recruited in1989-1990.

Of this group, 137 people reported at the outset that they hadmajor hearing loss, another 1,139 had moderate hearing problemssuch as trouble following conversations with several peopletalking or in a noisy background and 2,394 had no hearingtroubles.

Cognitive decline was measured with a 30-point questionnaireoften used to screen for dementia, which includes questions suchas what year it is and asks individuals to repeat simplephrases. The participants' ability to perform activities ofdaily living well, and their degree of depressive symptoms werealso assessed.

Overall, people with hearing loss scored lower for cognitiveskills at the beginning of the study compared to the peoplewithout hearing loss.

"It is a significant decline, both from a clinical andstatistical point of view," Amieva said.

"One thought is when individuals do have hearing loss, whathappens is they miss bits and pieces of information and so itisolates them," said Thomas Zalewski of Bloomsburg University ofPennsylvania, who was not involved in the study. "So when peopleare isolated, they aren't communicating as much and what happensis this vicious cycle."

The study team concludes that auditory rehabilitationprograms should be considered for older people who can't hearwell. Such programs include listening and communication skills,as well as instruction in the use of hearing aids.