Healthy Hearing: A Critical Component of Preventative Care

Social isolation and loneliness continue to gain attention as critically important social determinants of health (SDOH).

Studies over the years have concluded that the effects of loneliness are directly associated with a reduction in lifespan.  

Social isolation and loneliness have also been categorized as risk factors for other serious health conditions, including dementia, depression, heart attack and stroke. Apart from its health risks, social isolation also affects the global economy. For instance, it's reported that loneliness costs employers more than $154 billion a year in lost productivity due to absenteeism.

Many cases of social isolation and loneliness are rooted in hearing loss, leading to communication difficulties and, ultimately, avoidance of social situations.

Depression costs health insurers, employers and U.S. society as a whole approximately $382.4 billion annually. Based on a review of 35 studies involving 147,148 individuals 60 years or older, researchers determined that hearing loss increases the likelihood of experiencing depression symptoms by 47%, compared to people with normal hearing.

One explanation for this link may be that people with hearing loss tend to be more socially isolated, which in turn, is a risk factor for depression.

Another side effect of hearing loss is tinnitus (commonly known as “ringing in the ears”). Severe cases of tinnitus can disrupt a person’s life, causing or contributing to depression, increased anxiety, or suicidal thoughts. One study shows that severe tinnitus raised the risk of suicide in women by 10%. 

In 2024, health and long-term care costs for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are projected to reach $360 billion. Hearing loss is one risk factor for dementia that has received a lot of attention in recent years.

A Johns Hopkins study found that mild hearing loss doubled a person’s dementia risk, moderate hearing loss tripled the risk, and a severe hearing impairment increased the risk five-fold. Hearing loss is the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia

The ACHIEVE study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health revealed that while older adults with severe hearing loss were more likely to have dementia, the likelihood of dementia was 50% lower among hearing aid users compared to non-users.

Did you know that falls are the leading cause of injury and injury death among adults ages 65 and over in the United States? Injury-causing falls cost the U.S. health care system an estimated $80 billion annually and Medicare shoulders 2/3 of these costs. By 2030, the financial toll for older adult falls may reach $101 billion. These staggering costs become plausible when you consider that more than 1 in 4 older adults experience a fatal or non-fatal fall each year leading to 41,000 deaths, 3.6 million emergency department visits and 1.2 million hospital stays. In fact, the NCOA reports that an older adult receives emergency room treatment for a fall every 11 seconds.

Research links hearing loss with an elevated risk of injury-causing falls. In their study of 2,017 individuals ages 40 to 69, Johns Hopkins researchers found that a 25-decibel hearing loss (classified as mild) was associated with a three-fold higher risk of falling, compared to someone with normal hearing. The chance of falling increases by 1.4 for every additional 10 decibels of hearing loss.

High blood pressure can negatively affect hearing health. The inner ear is very sensitive to changes in blood flow, and high blood pressure can damage the small blood vessels in the inner ear, leading to hearing loss or tinnitus.

High blood pressure is also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which can further impact hearing health due to reduced blood flow to the ears. 

Research has shown that individuals who have experienced a stroke may be at a higher risk of developing sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

The connection between these two conditions is thought to be due to the potential damage to the auditory pathways in the brain caused by a stroke.

Studies indicate that individuals who are overweight may have a higher prevalence of hearing loss. The reasons behind this connection are not entirely clear, but it is thought that obesity may have a negative impact on the blood flow to the inner ear, leading to damage of the delicate hair cells responsible for hearing.

Obesity is often associated with other health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which, as mentioned earlier, are also known to be linked to hearing loss.