A group of researchers from Australia's University of Melbourne have found that using hearing aids may help older adults with hearing loss problem, stabilize their cognitive function and lower the risk of dementia.
Researchers from the university divided over 200 participants, all aged 60 and above, into two groups, with one having hearing loss and using hearing aids while the other wearing no hearing aids, and followed them for three years, the researchers said in an article published on the university's website on Monday.
During the three-year period, researchers assessed the cognitive performance of the elders of the two groups by using computerized card games at 18-month intervals and found that the hearing aid user group showed overall cognitive stability after three years while the non-hearing aid user group had declined significantly on three of the four cognitive tests.
The research result was published in the journal of Frontiers in Neuroscience.
Researchers said that hearing loss, a common part of aging, is associated with accelerated cognitive decline, which could raise the risk of dementia for older adults with untreated hearing loss.
People with mild hearing loss have almost double the risk of dementia than those with normal hearing, and people with severe hearing loss have almost five times the risk.
The researchers figured out that over 70 percent of people who need hearing aids either do not seek audiological care or use their aids.
They emphasized that hearing aid use may be an important large-scale public health strategy for delaying cognitive decline so as to help reduce or slow the global burden of dementia.
-XINHUA
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