Hearing health & brain health
Hearing loss and dementia: what the research shows.
Learn what Johns Hopkins research tells us about hearing loss, dementia risk, and hearing intervention — and why the findings are not a promise about your future.
Lin and colleagues · 2011
Hearing loss was linked with higher dementia risk.
Frank Lin and colleagues at Johns Hopkins published an observational study in Archives of Neurology that followed adults for about 12 years. Compared with people with normal hearing, people with mild hearing loss had about twice the relative dementia risk, moderate hearing loss about three times the risk, and severe hearing loss about five times the risk.
These were group-level estimates, not a prediction about any one person. The study found an association: it did not show that hearing loss causes dementia. The estimate for severe hearing loss was especially uncertain because that group was small.
Sources: Lin et al., Hearing Loss and Incident Dementia (2011); Johns Hopkins Medicine: The Hidden Risks of Hearing Loss.
The ACHIEVE trial · 2023
Hearing intervention helped the higher-risk subgroup.
The Johns Hopkins-led ACHIEVE trial, published in The Lancet, asked whether a hearing intervention could slow cognitive decline. The intervention combined audiological counseling and hearing aids and was compared with health education.
Across all participants, the intervention did not significantly slow cognitive decline. In a prespecified subgroup of older adults at higher risk for cognitive decline, it slowed decline by about 48% over three years. The healthier community-volunteer group did not show the same benefit during the study.
The 48% result refers to changes in thinking and memory in that higher-risk subgroup. It is not a reduction in dementia diagnoses and should not be applied to everyone. Because the intervention combined counseling and hearing aids, the finding should not be attributed to hearing aids alone.
Sources: ACHIEVE trial, The Lancet (2023), via PubMed; ACHIEVE key findings.
What this means for you
A reason to ask questions, not a reason to fear.
Hearing loss is linked to dementia risk, but these findings do not establish cause and effect. Hearing aids have not been shown by these studies to prevent or cure dementia. Your hearing health can still be a useful part of a broader conversation with your healthcare team.
If you are concerned about changes in your hearing, an assessment can help you understand what you are experiencing and discuss options for clearer communication.
Explore Hearing Health & Brain HealthYour next step
Start with a hearing assessment.
Bring your questions to the Boise Hears team.