Observational studyThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2015
Association of hearing impairment and mortality in older adults.
Observational study in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04659967 (Hearing Loss and Communication Needs in a Group Care Setting for Older Adults), which is not on this map. Cited by 71 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Hearing Loss and Communication Needs in a Group Care Setting for Older Adults
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Barriers and enablers to general practitioner referral of older adults to hearing care: a systematic review using the theoretical domains framework.European geriatric medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Hearing loss and its association with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A meta-analysis of cohort studies.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of hearing loss on clinical interactions between older adults and health professionals: a systematic review.European geriatric medicine · 2020Pooled it
- The Association between Hearing Impairment and Postural Stability in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Trends in hearingPooled it
- Trial
- Modifiable Risk Factors and Hearing Loss: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2020.Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery · 2026Article
- Intrinsic capacity and survival among older adults in India: LASI-DAD study (wave 1 and wave 2).The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2026Article
- The impact of hearing loss on annual incident age-associated dementia cases and quality of life in the United States.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Hearing loss and incident dementia over 8 years in Black and White older adults: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Article
- When Sound Fades: Depression and Anxiety in Adults with Hearing Loss-A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Downstream of hearing loss: a population-based multistate analysis of lifetime risk and years lived with hearing loss, dementia and their comorbidity in Finland.Age and ageing · 2025Article
- The mediating effect of depression on the association of hearing loss with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a prospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Country Differences in Older Men's Hearing Difficulty Disadvantage.Journal of aging and health · 2025Article
- Disparities in Mortality Outcomes Among Older Adults With Communication Disabilities Using the National Health and Aging Trends Study.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Change in depressive symptom scores to assess the risk of new-onset dual sensory impairment in middle-aged and older adults: a nationwide cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Expanding Access to Hearing Healthcare for Adults: How Interprofessional Collaboration Can Promote Care Equity From Clinics to Communities.ORL-head and neck nursing : official journal of the Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head-Neck Nurses · 2025Article
- Physical Function Trajectories and Mortality in Older Adults With Multisensory Impairment.JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery · 2024Article
- New Age Hearing Testing at your Fingertips: Shravana Mitra App.Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India · 2024Article
- Barriers to Hearing Health Care for Aging Adults: Reframing the Conversation.Innovation in aging · 2024Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHearing impairment (HI) is highly prevalent in older adults and is associated with social isolation, depression, and risk of dementia. Whether HI is associated with broader downstream outcomes is unclear. We undertook this study to determine whether audiometric HI is associated with mortality in older adults.
methodsProspective observational data from 1,958 adults ≥70 years of age from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression. Participants were followed for 8 years after audiometric examination. Mortality was adjudicated by obtaining death certificates. Hearing was defined as the pure-tone average of hearing thresholds in decibels re: hearing level (dB HL) at frequencies from 0.5 to 4kHz. HI was defined as pure-tone average >25 dB HL in the better ear.
resultsOf the 1,146 participants with HI, 492 (42.9%) died compared with 255 (31.4%) of the 812 with normal hearing (odds ratio = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.36-1.98). After adjustment for demographics and cardiovascular risk factors, HI was associated with a 20% increased mortality risk compared with normal hearing (hazard ratio = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.03-1.41). Confirmatory analyses treating HI as a continuous predictor yielded similar results, demonstrating a nonlinear increase in mortality risk with increasing HI (hazard ratio = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.00-1.29 per 10 dB of threshold elevation up to 35 dB HL).
conclusionsHI in older adults is associated with increased mortality, independent of demographics and cardiovascular risk factors. Further research is necessary to understand the basis of this association and whether these pathways might be amenable to hearing rehabilitation.
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