As people age, mental and sensory abilities, especially auditory, decline, but this can be prevented. Hearing aids may potentially boost cognitive function among older adults, research says.
A study conducted by the researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) found that older people who use hearing aids performed better on cognitive test as compared to those who do not use any.
The researchers also found out that the cognitive function is directly associated with the ability to hear among those participants who do not use hearing aids.
The study includes 100 participants aged 80 to 99 years old, among them only 34 individuals regularly use hearing aids.
Using audiometric evaluation, the participants underwent two tests and was assessed according to the impact of using and not using hearing aids. The data gathered from the test was used to compare to the unaided auditory levels.
To test the cognitive function of the elders, they completed the Mini-Mental State Examination or the MMSE, wherein the participants respond to the verbal commands with verbal answers. The second test was Trail Making Test Part B or TMT-B, wherein it does not require any auditory nor verbal responses.
The results showed that hearing aid users significantly scored better at 1.9 points on MMSE test than those who do not use the device. Moreover, non-users of hearing aids with worse hearing capacity scored lower on TMT-B test. Even though the hearing aid users got better scores in TMT-B, the difference in the result was not significant since it is not correlated with hearing level.
"We know that hearing aids can keep older adults with hearing loss more socially engaged by providing an important bridge to the outside world," said Dr. Anil Lalwani a professor and otolaryngologist at CUMC.
The researchers concluded that the participants performed better on cognitive test if aided with auditory stimuli than those of visual stimuli. They added that the loss of hearing capacity is linked to sensory-specific cognitive decline.
"Our study suggests that using a hearing aid may offer a simple, yet important, way to prevent or slow the development of dementia by keeping adults with hearing loss engaged in conversation and communication," Lalwani said.
The researchers suggest that hearing aids must be strongly recommended among elders to reduce cognitive impairment.
The study's findings were published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
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