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✦ The Dispatch

Starkey explains the far-reaching effects of hearing loss

A dispatch from Hearing Practitioner Australia — filed

Infographic overlaid on a multigenerational family outdoors, listing hearing loss links: tinnitus, dementia, falling, ototoxicity, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, smoking, and
✦ PlateInfographic overlaid on a multigenerational family outdoors, listing hearing loss links: tinnitus, dementia, falling, ototoxicity, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, smoking, and

This slide from a Starkey powerpoint details research findings on the connection between hearing loss and overall health. Image: Starkey. Research increasingly shows hearing loss affects far more than communication. Starkey’s patient education resources help hearing care professionals explain the links between hearing health and overall health and wellbeing plus how modern hearing technology can support healthier...

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✦ The floor

Discussion

Signed responses from readers of the wire.

✦ Clinical Takeaway ✦

No actionable change — the health links cited (dementia, falls, cardiovascular risk) are already well-established in audiology practice; this is promotional patient-education material, not new evidence.

✦ Why It Matters ✦

While the underlying health-impact evidence is legitimate, this piece functions as a branded awareness tool, reminding clinicians that patient education resources from manufacturers carry a promotional agenda alongside valid science.

✦ Key Points ✦
  1. 01Starkey compiles existing research linking hearing loss to dementia, falls, diabetes, heart disease, tinnitus, and social isolation.
  2. 02Smokers are cited as having a 70% higher risk of hearing loss than non-smokers.
  3. 03People with mild hearing loss are cited as 3× more likely to have a history of falls.
  4. 04200+ medications are noted as potentially harmful to hearing (ototoxicity).
  5. 05The content promotes Starkey's patient education resources for hearing care professionals.
✦ Claims & Evidence ✦

Up to 90% of people with tinnitus have some level of noise-induced hearing loss.

unknownpartially supported

Seniors with hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop dementia than those who retain their hearing.

studysupported

People with mild hearing loss are 3× more likely to have a history of falling.

studysupported

Hearing loss is twice as common in people with diabetes compared to those without.

studysupported

Current smokers have a 70% higher risk of hearing loss than non-smokers.

studypartially supported

High blood pressure can be an accelerating factor of hearing loss in adults.

studypartially supported

People with low-frequency hearing loss are considered at risk for cardiovascular events.

studypartially supported

200+ medications may be harmful to the ears (ototoxic).

unknownsupported

Higher BMI and larger waist circumference are associated with increased risk of hearing loss in women.

studypartially supported

Untreated hearing loss can contribute to social isolation, anxiety, depression, and cognitive decline.

studysupported
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Personal listening device usage, leisure noise exposure, hearing protection usage and hearing at standard frequencies: a longitudinal study from child/adolescence to young adulthood

Audiologists working with adolescents and young adults should monitor noise exposure habits longitudinally; if this study confirms hearing threshold shifts tied to device use, it strengthens counselling on safe listening — but clinical guidance changes should await full results...