The impact of hearing impairment and hearing aid use on progression to mild cognitive impairment in cognitively healthy adults: An observational cohort study

• Published in: Alzheimer's & dementia : translational research & clinical interventions Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. e12248 - n/a
• Main Authors: Bucholc, Magda, Bauermeister, Sarah, Kaur, Daman, McClean, Paula L., Todd, Stephen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; cognitive decline; cognitive impairment; Cohort analysis; Dementia; dementia prevention; Disease prevention; hearing aid; Hearing aids; hearing impairment; Hearing loss; Hypotheses; Intervention; Lifestyles; mild cognitive impairment; Observational studies; preventive intervention; Vitamin E; preventive intervention; hearing aid; hearing impairment; dementia; cognitive impairment; mild cognitive impairment; hearing loss; cognitive decline; dementia prevention
• ISSN: 2352-8737; 2352-8737
• DOI: 10.1002/trc2.12248

Introduction We assessed the association of self‐reported hearing impairment and hearing aid use with cognitive decline and progression to mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods We used a large referral‐based cohort of 4358 participants obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center. The standard covariate‐adjusted Cox proportional hazards model, the marginal structural Cox model with inverse probability weighting, standardized Kaplan‐Meier curves, and linear mixed‐effects models were applied to test the hypotheses. Results Hearing impairment was associated with increased risk of MCI (standardized hazard ratio [HR] 2.58, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.73 to 3.84], P = .004) and an accelerated rate of cognitive decline (P < .001). Hearing aid users were less likely to develop MCI than hearing‐impaired individuals who did not use a hearing aid (HR 0.47, 95% CI [0.29 to 0.74], P = .001). No difference in risk of MCI was observed between individuals with normal hearing and hearing‐impaired adults using hearing aids (HR 0.86, 95% CI [0.56 to 1.34], P = .51). Discussion Use of hearing aids may help mitigate cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.