To examine the association between objectively measured hearing ability and frailty using the accumulation of deficits model in adults aged ≥ 65 years and assess if the strength of this association differs by sex and hearing aid use.
Cross-sectional design limits causal inference, but the finding adds to a growing body of evidence supporting hearing aid use as potentially protective against frailty in older adults — clinicians counseling hesitant older patients may cite this association.
This study strengthens the evidence linking untreated hearing loss to broader physical decline and positions hearing aids as a potential tool in healthy aging and frailty prevention strategies.
- 01NHANES data (2003–2018) was used in a cross-sectional analysis of adults aged 65 and older.
- 02Hearing loss was measured objectively; frailty was defined using the accumulation of deficits model.
- 03Hearing aid use was associated with a reduced link between hearing loss and frailty.
- 04Cross-sectional design means causality cannot be established — confounding is possible.
- 05Findings align with prior research on hearing loss as a modifiable risk factor for functional decline.
Hearing aid use attenuates the association between hearing loss and frailty in adults aged 65+.
studypartially supportedHearing loss is associated with increased frailty as measured by the accumulation of deficits model.
studysupported- PMID
- 42423142
- DOI
- 10.1111/jgs.70581.
- Journal
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 3
- Population
- Adults aged 65 and older with objectively measured hearing loss from the NHANES 2003–2018 dataset
- Intervention
- Hearing aid use
- Comparator
- No hearing aid use among adults with hearing loss
Primary outcomes
Frailty status as defined by the accumulation of deficits model; Attenuation of the hearing loss–frailty association with hearing aid use