Persistent auditory hallucinations despite hearing aid use in bilateral sensorineural hearing loss without evidence of psychosis

Auditory hallucinations are frequently linked to the onset of psychotic disorders, especially when accompanied by delusions or disorganized thinking. However, hallucinations may also arise from non-psychiatric causes. Hearing loss is often underrecognized as a contributing factor, since reduced auditory input can produce perceptual experiences that mimic psychosis....

Audiologists should be aware that auditory hallucinations can persist in hearing-aid users with sensorineural hearing loss even when psychosis is ruled out; a single case report is insufficient to change clinical protocols, but it warrants referral pathways to neurology or psychiatry when hallucinations persist despite amplification.

This case highlights that hearing rehabilitation alone may not resolve auditory hallucinations in some patients with sensorineural hearing loss, pointing to a possible sensory-deprivation or central auditory mechanism that the field needs to better understand.

1. 01Single case report of auditory hallucinations persisting despite hearing aid use in bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
2. 02No psychotic disorder was identified, suggesting a non-psychiatric etiology.
3. 03Raises the question of whether amplification is always sufficient to suppress deprivation-related hallucinations.
4. 04Clinicians may need multidisciplinary referral (neurology/psychiatry) for such presentations.
5. 05Evidence base is limited to one patient; findings are not generalizable.

PMID

42212296

DOI

10.1177/2050313X261454846.

Journal

SAGE Open Medical Case Reports

Publication type

case_report

Evidence level

4

Sample size

1

Population

Single patient with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss using hearing aids

Intervention

Hearing aid use in the context of persistent auditory hallucinations