Hearing Aids May Hold Potential to Cut Older Adults’ Hospital or ER Visits

According to a study from researchers at the University of Michigan, hearing aids may be the key to lowering the number of times older adults visit hospitals and emergency rooms, reports News-Medical.net . The researchers examined 1,336 adults who reported having severe hearing loss, but only 45 percent of the group actually use a hearing aid. Further investigation found that older adults who used a hearing aid were less likely to have visited a hospital or emergency room over the last year. Furthermore, those who had been hospitalized and used a hearing aid had shorter stays than those who did not use a hearing aid. The researchers say the findings are unexpected considering few insurers provide coverage for hearing aids. Elham Mahmoudi, lead author of the study and a health economist in the Department of Family Medicine at the U-M Medical School, hopes the results of the study can lead to better decisions regarding Medicare, insurance coverage for hearing aids, and healthcare costs.