The provision of hearing aids and advice appears to preserve social connections among older adults, ultimately preventing loneliness. The corresponding study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
"Our findings add to evidence that helping aging patients hear better can also enrich their social lives and boost their mental and physical well-being," lead study author, Nicholas Reed, AuD, PhD, a member of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine's Optimal Aging Institute, said in a press release.
The findings come from a secondary analysis of a multicenter randomized controlled trial involving 977 adults aged between 70 and 84 years old. Participants had untreated hearing loss without substantial cognitive impairment and were randomized on a 1:1 basis to either a hearing intervention or health education control. They were followed for three years.
The hearing intervention involved four sessions with a certified study audiologist, hearing aids, counseling, and education. The health education control involved four sessions with a certified health educator on chronic disease and disability prevention. Social isolation was assessed by how often participants spent time with others, the size and variety of their social networks and their roles within, as well as the depth of their connections. Loneliness was assessed via a 20-question scoring system assessing frequency of feelings of disconnection.
Whereas those who received the hearing intervention experienced slight improvements in loneliness scores after three years, loneliness scores slightly worsened among those who did not receive the hearing intervention. The researchers now plan to continue following the participants for three more years and to repeat the study in a more diverse group of people given that 88% of participants in the current study were white.
"These results support efforts to incorporate hearing aid coverage into Medicare as a means of addressing the nation's social isolation epidemic, which is especially risky for the elderly. Making sure Americans can continue engaging with their family and friends as they age is a critical part of maintaining their quality of life," said study author, Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Population Health at New York University, in a press release.
Sources: Science Daily, JAMA Internal Medicine
