The silent impact of hearing loss: using longitudinal data to explore the effects on depression and social activity restriction among older people

Hearing loss is frequent in old age and has been associated with fewer social activities and depression. However, hearing problems have also been associated with other comorbidities, which prevent more definitive conclusions about the unique role on older people's wellbeing. Moreover, little at...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAgeing and society Vol. 38; no. 12; pp. 2468 - 2489
Main Authors ANDRADE, CLÁUDIA CAMPOS, PEREIRA, CÍCERO ROBERTO, SILVA, PEDRO ALCÂNTARA DA
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.12.2018
Subjects
Aging
Deafness
Early intervention
Health problems
Hearing loss
Hearing protection
Mental depression
Older people
Psychological processes
Retirement
Social activities
Social problems
Well being
social activities
longitudinal analysis
hearing loss
depression
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Summary:Hearing loss is frequent in old age and has been associated with fewer social activities and depression. However, hearing problems have also been associated with other comorbidities, which prevent more definitive conclusions about the unique role on older people's wellbeing. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the psychological processes through which this relationship occurs. This study aims to investigate the effect of hearing loss on older adults’ wellbeing from a longitudinal perspective. Using data from three points in time, we investigated the mutual relationship between hearing loss, depression and social activities. Based on longitudinal data of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from ten European countries, we conducted the test of competing auto-regressive cross-lagged theoretical models. Results show that hearing loss reduces social activity, which is mediated by depression. The adequacy of this model (versus a model proposing that social activity restriction mediates the relationship between hearing loss and depression) was supported in each of the countries of the sample. Findings showing that hearing loss can contribute to depression and, subsequently, to restriction in social activities have implications for early detection and clinical interventions on hearing loss.
ISSN:0144-686X
1469-1779
DOI:10.1017/S0144686X17000708