HearingTracker
Journal article · Public health & policy← The news desk

✦ The Dispatch

Association between subjective hearing difficulty and cognitive impairment among community-dwelling older adults: A secondary analysis of the 2023 National Survey of Older Koreans

A dispatch from PubMed — filed

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a significant public health concern affecting older adults' health. Although its association with cognitive impairment is increasingly recognized, evidence among South Korean older adults remains limited....

Continue reading at PubMed

✦ The floor

Discussion

Signed responses from readers of the wire.

✦ Clinical Takeaway ✦

The association between self-reported hearing difficulty and cognitive impairment adds to an existing evidence base; audiologists should continue routine cognitive screening conversations for older patients reporting hearing difficulty, but this secondary analysis alone does not change clinical protocols.

✦ Why It Matters ✦

Reinforces the hearing–cognition link using national-scale survey data from an East Asian population, broadening the demographic evidence base for hearing loss as a modifiable risk factor in cognitive decline discussions.

✦ Key Points ✦
  1. 01Secondary analysis of the 2023 National Survey of Older Koreans — large, nationally representative dataset.
  2. 02Examines subjective (self-reported) hearing difficulty rather than audiometrically confirmed hearing loss.
  3. 03Significant association found between subjective hearing difficulty and cognitive impairment.
  4. 04Population: community-dwelling older Korean adults with age-related hearing loss.
  5. 05Cross-sectional design limits causal inference; confounders cannot be fully excluded.
✦ Claims & Evidence ✦

Subjective hearing difficulty is associated with cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older Korean adults.

studypartially supported

Age-related hearing loss is linked to cognitive decline in older adults.

studysupported
✦ Research metadata ✦
PMID
42689407
DOI
10.17079/jkgn.2025.00339.
Journal
Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing
Publication type
research_article
Evidence level
2b
Population
Community-dwelling older Korean adults with age-related hearing loss
Intervention
Subjective hearing difficulty (self-reported)
Comparator
Older adults without subjective hearing difficulty

Primary outcomes

Prevalence of cognitive impairment; Association between subjective hearing difficulty and cognitive impairment scores

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