Hearing aids improve social life, study finds
July 5 (UPI) -- Some folks won't use hearing aids because they're worried the devices will make them look old or get in the way of their social life.
Nothing could be farther from the truth, a new evidence review says.
Hearing aids dramatically improve a person's social engagement and reduce feelings of isolation or loneliness, based on evidence from 65 prior studies involving nearly 6,000 people.
"We found that adults with hearing loss who used hearing aids or cochlear implants were more socially engaged and felt less isolated compared to those who didn't use them," senior researcher Dr. Janet Choi, an otolaryngologist with the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, said in a news release.
"This suggests that hearing devices may help prevent the social disconnection and broader health consequences that can follow untreated hearing loss," Choi added.
Nearly 30 million U.S. adults could benefit from hearing aids, only 16% of people who need them actually use them, according to the National Council on Aging.
The stigma surrounding hearing loss is one common reason why people eschew hearing aids, the NCOA says, along with the cost and hassle of the devices.
To see whether these fears are well-founded, researchers conducted a review of previous studies that investigated how hearing aids affect users' quality of life.
The review focused specifically on three key measures: Quality of social life, perceived social handicaps caused by hearing loss and loneliness.
Results showed that people using hearing devices felt more socially connected and less limited in social situations.
They were better able to engage in group conversations and felt more at ease in noisy environments, researchers said.
Hearing aid users also felt less socially handicapped by their hearing loss, with fewer frustrations caused by trouble keeping up with conversations, researchers said.
The increased confidence provided by all these benefits helped people connect more easily with others, leading to stronger feelings of belonging and reduced social anxiety, researchers noted.
All of this could mean that hearing aids help lower the risk of dementia and brain aging, given that isolation has been linked to cognitive decline, researchers said.
"While our study didn't directly measure cognitive outcomes, the improvements we saw in communication and social engagement suggest that by restoring clearer communication, hearing devices may help preserve cognitive health by keeping the brain more actively involved and people more connected," Choi said.
These results track with those from a January 2024 study by Choi in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, which found that people who use hearing aids have a nearly 25% lower risk of premature death.
"These new findings add to a growing body of research showing that hearing health is deeply connected to overall well-being," Choi said. "We hope this encourages more people to seek treatment and helps clinicians start conversations with patients about how hearing devices can improve their quality of life."
The evidence review was published today in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
More information
The National Council on Aging has more about the reasons so few use hearing aids.
Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
6 hours ago
- UPI
Excess weight hikes risk of health double-whammy among older women
Women past menopause with a higher body mass index were more likely to develop breast cancer if they had heart disease, researchers reported Monday in the journal Cancer. Photo by taniadimas/ Pixabay July 8 (UPI) -- Older women carrying excess weight have a higher risk of a life-threatening double-whammy, a new study says. Women past menopause with a higher body mass index were more likely to develop breast cancer if they had heart disease, researchers reported Monday in the journal Cancer. BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight. Women with heart disease had a 31% increased risk of breast cancer for every 5-point increase in their BMI, results show. By comparison, women without heart problems had a 13% increased risk for every 5-point BMI increase, results show. "This suggests that among postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease, prevention of obesity may lead to a greater reduction in breast cancer incidence compared to the general population," concluded the research team led by Heinz Freisling, a scientist of nutrition and metabolism with the International Agency for Research on Cancer. For the study, researchers pooled data from two large-scale European health studies - the ongoing UK Biobank research project and the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition. They wound up with data on nearly 169,000 postmenopausal women, including almost 6,800 who developed breast cancer after an average follow-up of nearly 11 years. Researchers estimate that the combination of excess weight and heart disease could cause an additional 153 cases of breast cancer per 100,000. On the other hand, developing type 2 diabetes did not seem to affect women's breast cancer risk, researchers found. "Emerging experimental research suggests that certain types of cardiovascular disease -- such as myocardial infarction [heart attack] -- can accelerate breast cancer growth by reprogramming of the innate immune system," researchers wrote. Proteins secreted after heart failure have been shown to promote tumor formation and accelerate cancer growth, researchers said. "The findings of this study could be used to inform risk-stratified breast cancer screening programs," Freisling said. "This study should also inspire future research to include women with a history of cardiovascular diseases in weight loss trials for breast cancer prevention." More information Harvard Medical School has more on heart disease and breast cancer. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Study: Melting Glaciers could cause more volcanic eruptions
July 8 (UPI) -- The melting of glaciers due to the climate crisis could make volcanic eruptions more catastrophic than before, scientists cautioned in a study. The loss of ice from the rapid glacial melting releases pressure on magma chambers underground and could cause volcanic eruptions to become more frequent and intense, the study, presented at the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, said. "As glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively," Lead researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Pablo Moreno, said. The study placed six volcanoes in Chile under crystal analysis to determine how the shifting of the Patagonia Ice Sheet impacted the strength and frequency of previous volcanic eruptions. Studies linking the impacts of climate change on volcanic eruptions had previously been conducted in Iceland, but the latest study was the first to assess the links to continental volcanic systems. "Our study suggests this phenomenon isn't limited to Iceland, where increased volcanic activity has been observed, but could also occur in Antarctica," said Moreno. "Other continental regions, like parts of North America, New Zealand, and Russia, also now warrant closer scientific attention," "We found that following deglaciation, the volcano starts to erupt way more, and also changes composition," said Moreno. The composition changed as the magma melted crustal rocks while eruptions were suppressed. This made the molten rock more viscous and more explosive on eruption. Scientists found that during the last ice age, thick ice covered and suppressed the number of eruptions. Then, as the Earth heated up, volcanic activity increased by two to six times. "Glaciers tend to suppress the volume of eruptions from the volcanoes beneath them. But as glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively," said Dr Moreno. "The key requirement for increased explosive is initially having a very thick glacial coverage over a magma chamber, and the trigger point is when these glaciers start to retreat, releasing pressure, which is currently happening in places like Antarctica."
UPI
13 hours ago
- UPI
Study: Melting Glaciers could cause more volcanic eruptions
The melting of glaciers due to the climate crisis could make volcano eruptions more catastrophic than before, scientists cautioned in a study. Photo by NASA/UPI | License Photo July 8 (UPI) -- The melting of glaciers due to the climate crisis could make volcanic eruptions more catastrophic than before, scientists cautioned in a study. The loss of ice from the rapid glacial melting releases pressure on magma chambers underground and could cause volcanic eruptions to become more frequent and intense, the study, presented at the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, said. "As glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively," Lead researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Pablo Moreno, said. The study placed six volcanoes in Chile under crystal analysis to determine how the shifting of the Patagonia Ice Sheet impacted the strength and frequency of previous volcanic eruptions. Studies linking the impacts of climate change on volcanic eruptions had previously been conducted in Iceland, but the latest study was the first to assess the links to continental volcanic systems. "Our study suggests this phenomenon isn't limited to Iceland, where increased volcanic activity has been observed, but could also occur in Antarctica," said Moreno. "Other continental regions, like parts of North America, New Zealand, and Russia, also now warrant closer scientific attention," "We found that following deglaciation, the volcano starts to erupt way more, and also changes composition," said Moreno. The composition changed as the magma melted crustal rocks while eruptions were suppressed. This made the molten rock more viscous and more explosive on eruption. Scientists found that during the last ice age, thick ice covered and suppressed the number of eruptions. Then, as the Earth heated up, volcanic activity increased by two to six times. "Glaciers tend to suppress the volume of eruptions from the volcanoes beneath them. But as glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively," said Dr Moreno. "The key requirement for increased explosive is initially having a very thick glacial coverage over a magma chamber, and the trigger point is when these glaciers start to retreat, releasing pressure, which is currently happening in places like Antarctica."
