Hearing impairment is not only disruptive to those who experience it; a new study published in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery finds it may also lead to a higher risk of death. The findings come from a team at John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD.

The data for this latest study came from 2005-06 and 2009-10 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The study population was made up of 1,666 adults who had undergone audiometric testing and were 70 years or older.

In an age-adjusted model, the researchers found participants with moderate or more severe hearing impairment (HI) had a 54% increased risk of death, while those with mild HI had a 27% increased risk of death, compared with those free of HI.

After adjustments were made for demographic and cardiovascular characteristics, the team found participants with moderate or more severe HI had a 39% increased risk of death, while those with mild HI had a 21% increased risk of death, compared with those without HI.

The potential mechanisms for these findings, the authors say, include causal connections of HI with cognitive, mental and physical function. Commenting on their findings, the researchers say:

“Future studies are required to explore the basis of the association of HI with mortality and to determine whether therapies to rehabilitate hearing can reduce mortality.”

Experts commenting on these findings in other media articles stressed that the findings, while interesting, do not necessarily prove that hearing impairment itself shortens people’s lives.

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