Do you ever find yourself turning the volume up on the TV or missing words in a phone conversation? It’s probably time to get your ears checked.
Hearing is a precious sense that, it turns out, impacts many areas of our lives. In a recent study published in Geriatrics and Gerontology International June 2019 researchers found it was linked to outdoor activity, psychological distress and memory loss (Masao Iwagami et al)
The study examined the results of a survey of nearly 140,000 adults age 65 or older, with a mean age of 75. They compared social, medical and psychological factors between those reporting hearing loss and others.
Of the 9% reporting hearing loss, 37.7% said they had hearing loss, while only 5.2% of the others reported hearing loss. That means you are more than 7X more likely to have memory loss if your hearing is impaired. These findings recognize that hearing loss is a risk factor for dementia.
Another surprising finding was that 28.9% of those with hearing loss had decreased outside activity, such as shopping or travel compared to 9.5% of those without hearing loss. It also found that 39.7% with hearing loss had psychological distress, such as depression, anxiety and stress, compared with 19.3% of others.
The authors suggest early intervention for hearing loss to help reduce the risk of these associated declines. Hearing aids are the obvious solution to decrease risk factors for memory loss, diminished outside activity and psychological well-being.
Age Well and get your hearing checked soon.
References: Iwagami, M., Kobayashi, Y., Tsukazaki, E., Watanabe, T., Sugiyama, T., Wada, T., Hara, A., & Tamiya, N. (2019). Associations between self-reported hearing loss and outdoor activity limitations, psychological distress and self-reported memory loss among older people: Analysis of the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan. Geriatrics & gerontology international, 19(8), 747–754