People age 66 and older who got a hearing aid shortly after being diagnosed with hearing loss were less likely to receive a first-time diagnosis of dementia or depression, or be injured by a fall, in the following three years, a study published by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found.
Researchers from the University of Michigan examined insurance data from nearly 115,000 Michigan residents whose insurance covered part of the cost of hearing aids. People who got hearing aids had an 18 percent lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, within three years of their hearing loss diagnosis, the study found. The risk of a depression diagnosis was 11 percent lower and the risk of being injured in a fall was 13 percent lower.
Leslie Albrecht, MarketWatch