Restorative hearing devices reduced HRs for long-term cognitive decline and improved cognitive test scores
among patients with hearing loss, according to findings published in JAMA Neurology. Woei Shyang Loh, MBBS, and colleagues examined associations of hearing aids and cochlear implants with cognitive decline and dementia across 31 studies with 137,484 participants; 19 studies were included in quantitative analyses. In a meta-analysis of eight studies with a total of 126,903 participants, the researchers observed significantly lower hazards of any cognitive decline among hearing aid users compared with participants with uncorrected hearing loss (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.76-0.87). Another meta-analysis of 11 studies with 568 participants on the association between hearing restoration and short-term cognitive test score changes showed a 3% improvement in scores after the use of hearing aids (ratio of means, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02-1.04). “A cognitive benefit of hearing restorative devices should be further investigated in randomized trials,” Dr. Loh and colleagues wrote.
