Overview

• People younger than 70 with hearing loss who used hearing aids had a 61% lower risk of incident all-cause dementia versus nonusers (hazard ratio 0.39) in the JAMA Neurology report.
• No significant association between hearing aid use and incident dementia was seen among participants assessed at age 70 or older.
• The study analyzed 2,953 Framingham Heart Study participants aged 60 and older with pure-tone audiometry, with 20% developing dementia over as long as 20 years of follow-up.
• Researchers cautioned that hearing aid use was self-reported as a simple yes/no measure, benefits could reflect earlier intervention or milder loss, and socioeconomic factors may confound results.
• Uptake remains low at about 17% among those with moderate-to-severe hearing loss, even as tens of millions in the United States could benefit from hearing aids.