Neglected Hearing Loss Raises Healthcare Expenses More Than 40%

After 12 years of studying it, researchers discovered that there was a considerable impact on brain health in adults with mild to extreme hearing loss. For example:

• A person with an extreme hearing impairment has five times the risk of developing dementia
• A person with minor hearing loss has two times the risk of dementia
• The risk is triple for people with moderate loss of hearing

The study shows that the brain atrophies at a quicker pace when a person suffers from hearing loss. The brain has to work harder to do things such as maintaining balance, and that puts stress on it that can lead to damage.

The inability to hear has an impact on quality of life, as well. Stress and anxiety are more likely in a person who can't hear well. Depression is also more common. More expensive medical bills are the result of all of these issues.

The Newest Research

The newest research published November in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that it starts to be a budget buster if you decide not to address your loss of hearing. The University of California San Fransisco, Johns Hopkins with AARP, and Optum Labs also led this study.

They examined data from 77,000 to 150,000 patients over the age of 50 who had untreated hearing loss. Individuals with normal hearing created 26 percent less health care expenses than people who were recently diagnosed with hearing loss.

That number continues to grow as time goes by. Over a ten year period, healthcare expenses increase by 46 percent. Those statistics, when broken down, average $22,434 per person.

Some factors that are involved in the increase are:

• Falls
• Dementia
• Lower quality of life
• Decline of cognitive ability
• Depression

A second companion study conducted by Bloomberg School indicates a link between untreated hearing loss and higher mortality. Some other findings from this study are:

• 3.6 more falls
• 6.9 more diagnoses of depression
• 3.2 more diagnoses of dementia per 100 over the course of 10 years

The research by Johns Hopkins correlates with this one.

Hearing Loss is Increasing

According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders:

• Currently, between two and three of every 1,000 children has hearing loss
• Approximately 2 percent of individuals aged 45 to 54 are significantly deaf
• Approximately 15 percent of young people 18 years old have difficulty hearing
• Hearing loss is common in 55 to 64 year olds at a rate of 8.5 percent

For those aged 64 to 74 the number rises to 25 percent and for individuals over 74 it rises to 50 percent. Over time, those numbers are anticipated to rise. As many as 38 million people in this country could have hearing loss by the year 2060.

Using hearing aids can alter these figures, though, which the study doesn't show. What they do know is that wearing hearing aids can prevent some of the health problems connected with hearing loss. Further studies are required to determine if using hearing aids reduces the cost of healthcare. There are more benefits to wearing them than not, undoubtedly. To find out if hearing aids would benefit you, schedule an appointment with a hearing care expert right away.