Taiwanese study confirms that hearing loss is associated with dementia
Of a total of 16,270 participants in a Taiwanese study, 1,868 developed dementia. The dementia incidence rate in the hearing loss group in the study was higher than that in the non-hearing loss group.
During the follow-up period, nearly 20 per 1,000 persons per year among those with hearing loss developed dementia whereas only around 14 per 1,000 persons per years without hearing loss developed dementia.
In the study, a subgroup analysis revealed that among three age groups (45-64, 65-74 and 75 years or older), hearing loss was especially associated with a risk of dementia in the group aged 45 to 64 years.
Other risk factors
The study also found that cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, anxiety, depression, alcohol-related illnesses and head injury were significantly and positively associated with dementia.
The study collected data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan between 2000 and 2013 and consisted both of a group that was diagnosed with hearing loss and a control group without hearing loss.
The objective of the study was to investigate the association between hearing loss and incidence of dementia in Taiwanese adults in the general population.
The study “Association of Hearing Loss With Dementia” was published in JAMA Network Open.
Sources: www.dailymail.co.uk and JAMA Network Open