Did you know that age-related hearing impairment affects roughly one out of three adults between the ages of 65 and 74 (and roughly half of them are over 75)? But even though so many people are impacted by hearing loss, 70% of them have never used hearing aids and for people under 69, that number drops to 16%. At least 20 million people suffer from untreated hearing loss and some reports put this number at over 30 million.
As people get older, there could be a number of reasons why they would avoid getting help for their hearing loss. One study found that only 28% of individuals who said they suffered from hearing loss had even had their hearing tested, never mind sought additional treatment. Many people just accept hearing loss as a normal part of the aging process. Managing hearing loss has always been more of a problem than diagnosing it, but with advancements in modern hearing aid technology, that’s not the situation now. That’s relevant because a growing body of research demonstrates that treating hearing loss can improve more than your hearing.
A Columbia University research group conducted a study that linked hearing loss to depression. They collected data from over 5,000 people aged 50 and up, giving each subject an audiometric hearing test and also evaluating them for symptoms of depression. After adjusting for a range of variables, the researchers revealed that the odds of having clinically significant symptoms of depression increased by around 45% for every 20-decibel increase in hearing loss. And for the record, 20 dB is very little noise, it’s quieter than a whisper, roughly on par with the sound of rustling leaves.
It’s surprising that such a small difference in hearing generates such a significant increase in the likelihood of developing depression, but the basic relationship isn’t a shock. The fact that mental health gets worse as hearing loss worsens is demonstrated by this research and a multi-year analysis from 2000, adding to a sizable body of literature connecting the two. In another study, a considerably higher danger of depression was reported in people who both self reported hearing loss and people whose hearing loss was diagnosed from a hearing test.
Here’s the good news: Researchers and scientists don’t think that it’s a chemical or biological connection that exists between hearing loss and depression. In all likelihood, it’s social. Difficulty hearing can lead to feelings of anxiety and lead sufferers to steer clear of social situations or even everyday conversations. This can increase social isolation, which further feeds into feelings of depression and anxiety. But this vicious cycle can be broken rather easily.
Treating hearing loss, in most cases with hearing aids, according to several studies, will reduce symptoms of depression. 1.000 people in their 70’s were studied in a 2014 study which couldn’t establish a cause and effect relationship between depression and hearing loss because it didn’t look over time, but it did demonstrate that those individuals were a lot more likely to suffer from depression symptoms if they had untreated hearing loss.
But the hypothesis that treating hearing loss alleviates depression is reinforced by a more recent study that followed subjects before and after wearing hearing aids. A 2011 study only observed a small group of people, 34 subjects total, the researchers found that after three months with hearing aids, all of them demonstrated significant improvement in both depressive symptoms and mental functioning. Another small-scale study from 2012 revealed the same results even further out, with every single individual in the group continuing to notice less depression six months after starting to use hearing aids. And even a full year after starting to use hearing aids, a group of veterans in a 1992 study were still experiencing relief from symptoms of depression.
It’s difficult struggling with hearing loss but help is out there. Learn what your solutions are by getting a hearing test. Your hearing will be enhanced and so will your general quality of life.
References
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/age-related-hearing-loss
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27818440
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing#8
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/2664072
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/article-abstract/2717904
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/article-abstract/2717904
https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/40/3/320/605349
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24604103
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3773611/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167494310001147
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1447-0594.2011.00789.x
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1494282