Observational studyBMJ open2025
Do self-reported and objective hearing measures similarly relate to general and domain-specific cognition? Observational cohort study of older adults in England.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Self-Perceived Hearing Handicap and Audiometric Severity in Age-Related Hearing Loss: Associations with Age and Sex.Audiology research · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesWe compared associations between self-reported and HearCheck screening device measures of hearing difficulty with subsequent general and domain-specific cognitive function in a population-based sample of older English adults.
designObservational cohort study.
settingPopulation-based sample of older adults in wave 7 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) in 2014/15 and its Healthy Cognitive Ageing Project (HCAP) in 2018.
participantsN=1119 adults aged ≥62 years. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Factor scores for general cognitive function and domains of memory, language, orientation and executive function were derived from the HCAP neuropsychological test battery (mean of 0 and SD of 1 for each). Hearing difficulty was assessed using a self-reported 5-point Likert-type scale and the HearCheck screening device, which administered a series of six tones in each ear.
resultsAccording to the HearCheck device, 48% of participants had a mild or moderate-to-severe hearing difficulty, while 25% self-reported fair or poor hearing. In multivariable-adjusted, population-weighted linear regression models, hearing difficulty identified via HearCheck was associated with worse general cognitive function (β=-0.34 SD units; 95% CI -0.60 to -0.07 for moderate-to-severe hearing difficulty vs good hearing) as well as worse function in domains of memory, language and executive function, each with a dose-response relationship. Self-reported hearing difficulty was not associated with general or domain-specific cognitive function.
conclusionsPeripheral hearing ability, as captured by the HearCheck screening device, may have stronger relevance for later-life cognitive outcomes than the broader construct of perceived hearing difficulty in one's daily environment that is captured by a self-reported measure.
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Registered trials
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