The Relationship between Age-Related Hearing Loss and Cognitive Disorder

Background: Although the rates of occurrence of age-related diseases, including presbycusis and cognitive disorders, have increased with an increase in the geriatric population, the relationship between these two conditions remains unclear. Objective: To investigate the association between presbycusis and cognitive disorder. Subjects and Methods: A retrospective review of patient medical records was conducted at a single tertiary university hospital. This study enrolled 399 patients aged >= 65 years who were prescribed hearing aids for the chief complaint of hearing loss. For main outcomes and measures we used audiograms, the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). Results: Of the 399 patients who were prescribed hearing aids for presbycusis, 45 (11.3%) had dementia and 354 (88.7%) did not have dementia. When the cognitive disorder group was divided into mild (1-4) and severe (5-7) subgroups based on the GDS scores, the threshold of hearing loss was significantly higher in the severe group than in the mild group (p < 0.05). The prevalence of dementia was significantly higher in patients with hearing loss for >= 10 years than in patients with hearing loss for <10 years (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Presbycusis and cognitive disorder are correlated. More severe and prolonged hearing loss is associated with a higher prevalence of cognitive disorder. (C) 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel