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A study published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity found that greater hearing loss severity was associated with a higher risk of death, and that hearing aid use was associated with a lower risk, among adults with hearing loss. The research combined individual participant data from population studies in Australia, Iceland, and the United States, with a separate replication study using data from Norway.
The analysis found that as hearing loss severity increased, so did the risk of death from any cause and from cardiovascular disease. Among people with hearing loss, current hearing aid use was associated with reduced mortality risk. In the Norwegian replication data, hearing aid use was correlated with a 15 percent lower all-cause mortality risk and a 16 percent lower cardiovascular mortality risk.
Important caveats apply, and the study’s authors and an accompanying commentary emphasize them. The hearing aid analyses were exploratory. The findings show an association and do not prove that hearing aids extend life or that hearing loss causes earlier death. Other factors, such as overall health and social connection, may contribute. The authors describe the link between hearing rehabilitation and life expectancy as an important area for further understanding and research.
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