The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by 2050, one in every 10 people will have disabling hearing loss—that’s more than 700 million people. Hearing loss is influenced by a variety of factors, such as genetics, age, injury, viral infections, and loud noise exposure. However, psychosocial variables can also play a huge role. And a new study published in the journal Health Data Science identifies loneliness as a potential culprit.
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Scientists studied how loneliness affects hearing loss.
Multiple studies have found depression, cognitive decline, cardiovascular risk, and dementia to be common comorbidities of hearing loss. But what causes impaired hearing in the first place? Scientists have identified physiological (obesity, diabetes, and elevated blood pressure) and lifestyle factors (smoking and lack of exercise) as risk contributors, but little research has been done on psychosocial triggers, such as loneliness.
Until recently, it was widely believed that the relationship between hearing loss and loneliness was a one-way street, in which hearing loss leads to increased loneliness "due to the frustration caused by the disability to communicate effectively," wrote the authors.
Their present analysis debunks this theory. According to their findings, the link between hearing loss and loneliness "could be bidirectional."
Loneliness can increase the risk of hearing loss by 24 percent, they found.
For the study, researchers pulled 490,865 profiles (average age 56) from the UK Biobank. During a preliminary round of questioning, participants were asked, "Do you often feel lonely?" Approximately 18.5 percent answered yes.
A total of 11,596 participants (2.4 percent) were diagnosed with hearing loss during a follow-up period of 12.3 years. Incident hearing loss was assessed via an in-hospital diagnostic test.
However, the research team also examined a range of covariates. These included age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors (education and annual household income), smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, body mass index, and chronic diseases (specifically, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease). Participants were also ranked on a "social isolation index," which looked at household size, frequency of family/friend visits, and engagement in leisure/social activities.
Results showed that loneliness can increase your risk of hearing loss by 24 percent. Furthermore, the researchers also discovered:
- 90,893 (18.5 percent) participants were classified as being lonely.
- Hearing loss risk was more pronounced in women than in men.
- Loneliness was "significantly associated" with an increased risk of sensorineural hearing loss, which impacts the inner ear and auditory nerves.
- Socioeconomic factors were the "strongest mediator" (16.7 percent).
These findings corroborate the original hypothesis that loneliness and hearing loss are, in fact, a bidirectional relationship.
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"We found that loneliness is associated with an increased risk of developing hearing loss, independent of other well-known risk factors," lead author Yunlong Song said in a press release. "This suggests a potentially harmful feedback loop in which loneliness and hearing loss exacerbate one another."
Certain side effects of loneliness can exacerbate your risk of hearing decline, too. For instance, this study showed that lonely individuals are more likely to exhibit "unhealthy behaviors," such as smoking.
Loneliness has also been linked to elevated inflammation, high blood pressure, and stress responses, all of which can "potentially accelerate the onset and progression of hearing impairment by negatively affecting vascular and neural functions critical to auditory health," per the study.
However, there’s still more research to be done. "Ultimately, we aim to conduct intervention studies to test whether alleviating loneliness can lower the risk of hearing loss," said co-author Bin Yu.
