Hearing Loss as a Potentially Modifiable Marker of Dementia Risk: Neurological Evidence, Uncertainty, and Clinical Interpretation

Hearing impairment has emerged as a consistently associated and potentially modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Epidemiological studies demonstrate an increased dementia risk among individuals with hearing loss, with evidence of dose-response relationships across levels of auditory decline....

Audiologists should be aware that hearing loss is recognized as a potentially modifiable dementia risk factor, but current evidence does not yet confirm that hearing intervention (e.g., hearing aids) definitively reduces dementia incidence — counsel patients on the association without overstating causality.

Dementia is a leading public-health concern, and if hearing intervention can meaningfully reduce risk, audiology practice sits at the center of a major preventive health opportunity.

1. 01Review evaluates neurological mechanisms linking hearing impairment to cognitive decline and dementia.
2. 02Hearing loss is classed as a 'potentially modifiable' dementia risk factor, not a confirmed causal one.
3. 03Evidence includes Alzheimer's disease and broader cognitive decline endpoints.
4. 04Authors highlight uncertainty in the field and caution against overinterpreting current findings.
5. 05Published in Neurodegenerative Diseases; adds to a growing body of literature on hearing-cognition links.

PMID

42322621

DOI

10.1159/000553216.

Journal

Neurodegenerative Diseases

Publication type

review

Evidence level

2a

Population

Adults with hearing impairment at risk for dementia or cognitive decline

Intervention

Hearing impairment as a risk exposure; potential hearing intervention

Comparator

Normal hearing / no hearing loss