Hearing Aids Lower Dementia, Depression Risk for Older Adults

A study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found older adults with hearing aids have a lower probability of anxiety, depression, and dementia compared to those who lack hearing aids, reports United Press International . Yet only about 12 percent of seniors get hearing aids after being diagnosed with hearing loss. "Though hearing aids can't be said to prevent these conditions, a delay in the onset of dementia, depression, and anxiety, and the risk of serious falls, could be significant both for the individual and for the costs to the Medicare system," said the University of Michigan's Elham Mahmoudi. The researchers analyzed Medicare health maintenance organization data from 2008 to 2016 for roughly 115,000 people older than 66 who have had hearing loss. Older adults with hearing aids were found to have an 18 percent reduced risk of dementia, an 11 percent lower risk of depression or anxiety, and a 13 percent lower risk of falling-related injuries within three years of a diagnosis. "We hope our research will help clinicians and people with hearing loss understand the potential association between getting a hearing aid and other aspects of their health," Mahmoudi concluded.