Self-Reported Hearing Loss Linked to Increased Risk of Dementia

The Sydney Memory and Aging Study at the Center for Healthy Brain Aging (CHeBA) in Australia found a link between the effect of hearing loss on cognitive abilities and increased risk for dementia, reports Medical Xpress . The research in Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition analyzed data from 1,037 Australian men and women 70 to 90 years old. Participants reporting moderate-to-severe hearing problems had poorer cognitive performance overall, especially in terms of attention/processing speed and visuospatial ability, and had a 1.5 times higher risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia at six years' follow-up. Although hearing loss was independently associated with a higher MCI rate, this was not evident in people with dementia, likely due to the number of people with dementia at follow-up being too small to indicate a statistically significant effect. "Hearing loss may increase cognitive load, resulting in observable cognitive impairment on neuropsychological testing," noted Macquarie University's Paul Strutt. CHeBA Professor Henry Brodaty added that these outcomes "contribute to the evidence base providing support for a study looking at the effect of hearing devices on cognitive function."