The provision of hearing aids and advice on their use can retain social connections that often decrease as we get older, according to a new study. The authors say that this approach could help to illuminate the loneliness epidemic with which older Americans are confronted.
According to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a quarter of the seniors say that they have little or no contact with others, and one third of them report to feel lonely. Experts have partially linked such an insulation to hearing loss, which can disrupt communication and building relationships. The advice of the American surgeon general of 2023 mentioned improving the social connection as a major priority such as focusing tobacco use, obesity and addiction.
Under the leadership of researchers of NYU Langone Health as part of the clinical test, the study showed that those treated for hearing loss on average retained one extra social connection for a period of three years compared to those who did not receive hearing therapies and were trained about healthy aging.
Published online on 12 May in the magazine Jama Internal MedicineThe work further showed that those who received hearing aids had more different relationships, with networks that had many different types of connections (eg family members, friends and acquaintances). They also maintained deeper bonds of higher quality than those who were not treated for hearing loss.
Our findings contribute to evidence that helping more aging patients can better enrich their social lives and stimulate their mental and physical well -being. “
Nicholas S. Reed, Aud, PhD, Study Lead Author, member of the Optimal Aging Institute of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Experts have both loneliness and hearing loss coupled with depression, heart conditions and early death, in addition to other concerns, Dr. Reed, also a member of the faculty in the departments of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery and health health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. A report from 2023 on the accessible research showed that hearing interventions can delay cognitive decline in those with the highest risk of dementia.
“These results support the efforts to include the coverage of hearing aid in Medicare as a means to tackle the social isolation epidemic of the country, which is mainly risky for the elderly,” said Co-head researcher Josef Coreh, MD, PhD of the study. “Ensuring that Americans can continue to deal with their families and friends as they get older is a crucial part of maintaining their quality of life,” Dr. Coresh, also the Professor Terry and Mel Karmzin at the Department of Population Health.
For the study, the research team collected data on older adults with untreated hearing loss at four locations in Maryland, North Carolina, Minnesota and Mississippi. The study is one of the largest to date to investigate whether hearing care can help prevent weakening of social networks, with nearly 1,000 men and women aged 70 to 84.
Half of the participants received hearing aids, counseling sessions and personalized instructions with an audiologist, and when needed, aids such as adapters that connect hearing aids to televisions. The other half of the participants received instruction on exercise, strategies for communication with care providers and further resources for healthy aging.
To measure social isolation, the researchers assessed how regularly participants spent time with others, the size and variety of their social networks and the roles they played in them, and the depth of their connections. Loneliness was calculated using a scoring system of 20 questions that evaluates how often a person feels disconnected from others. After the first data was collected, the team followed after six months and then every year for three years.
Among the other findings, the study revealed that before the treatment, participants in both groups reported that they felt equally lonely. Three years after the intervention took place, loneliness somewhat improved with those who had received hearing care, while the scores deteriorated somewhat with those who did not do that.
Hearing aids and their accompanying audiology agreements cost on average $ 4,700, which is usually paid out of their own pocket, Dr. Coresh op, who is the founder of the Optimal Aging Institute and Professor in the Department of Medicine.
Dr. Coresh says that the authors are planning to keep following the participants for another three years and to repeat the study with a more diverse group of people – the patients were usually white. He warns that the participants have received hearing care at caretaker level that offered more resources and time with audiologists than is usually offered to the public. For example, damaged hearing aids were replaced within a few days instead of weeks.
Financing for the study was provided by National Institutes of Health Grants R01AG05426, R01AG060502, U01HL096812, U01HL096814, U01HL096899, U01HL096902 and U01HL096917.
In addition to Dr. Reed and Dr. Coresh was Nyu Langone researcher James Pike, MBA, involved in the study.
Frank Lin, MD, PhD, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, is a senior author of the study and the co-principal researcher of the Proce Trial together with Dr. Coresh.
Other co-researchers of the study are Jinyu Chen, MS; Alison Huang, PhD, MPH; Ziheng Chen, BS; Thomas Cudjoe, MD, MPH; Jennifer Deal, PhD, MHS; Christine Mitchell, SCM; Esther Oh, MD, PhD; and Jennifer Schrack, PhD, at Johns Hopkins University; Michelle Arnold, Aud, PhD; Theresa Chisolm, PhD; and Victoria Sanchez, Aud, PhD, at the University of South Florida in Tampa; Sheila Burgard, MS; David Couper, PhD; and Lisa Gravens-Mueller, MS, at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; Adele Goman, PhD, at Edinburgh Napier University in the United Kingdom; Nancy Glynn, PhD and Theresa Gmelin, MSW, MPH, at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania; Kathleen M. Hayden, PhD, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Thomas Mosley JR, PhD, at the University of Mississippi in Jackson; and James Pankow, PhD, MPH, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
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Journal Reference:
Reed, NS, et Alt Alto. (2025). Hearing intervention, social isolation and loneliness: achieve a secondary analysis of the randomized clinical study. Jama Internal Medicine. doi.org/10.1001/JAMAINNNMED.2025.1140.