Hearing Intervention May Help Older Adults Maintain Social Connections

A study within the ACHIEVE clinical trial suggests that hearing aids combined with individualized audiology support may help some older adults maintain a broader and more meaningful social network. The reported difference concerns a particular three-year intervention and should not be read as a guarantee of reduced loneliness for every wearer.

As background, the article cites US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures that more than one-quarter of older adults have little or no contact with others and about one-third feel lonely. It notes the 2023 US Surgeon General's advisory treating social connection as a public-health priority.

The ACHIEVE comparison

Researchers led by NYU Langone Health studied nearly 1,000 adults aged 70–84 from sites in Maryland, North Carolina, Minnesota and Mississippi who had not previously received hearing treatment. Participants were randomized to hearing intervention or a healthy-aging education comparison. The intervention group received hearing aids, counseling and personalized guidance from audiologists, with accessories such as TV audio equipment when needed. The comparison group received information about exercise, talking with doctors and healthy-aging resources.

Researchers measured social activity frequency, network size and variety, a person's role in that network and the depth of relationships. A 20-question score assessed loneliness. After baseline, the team followed participants at six months and then annually for three years.

The article reports that, after three years, people in the intervention group maintained about one more social relationship on average than the comparison group. Their networks were described as more diverse and their connections as deeper. Loneliness scores started at similar levels, then improved slightly in the intervention group and worsened slightly in the education group. The report appeared online in JAMA Internal Medicine on May 12.

Researchers' interpretation and limits

First author Nicholas Reed of NYU Grossman School of Medicine said improved hearing may support social participation and wellbeing. He noted that hearing loss and loneliness have each been associated with depression, heart disease and early death; association does not establish causation. He also referred to a separate 2023 ACHIEVE finding about slower cognitive decline in a subgroup at higher dementia risk, not the outcome established by this social-network analysis.

ACHIEVE co-principal investigator Josef Coresh said the findings might support arguments for hearing-aid insurance coverage. He put average hearing-aid and related care costs at about US$4,700, often paid by patients. The researchers plan another three years of follow-up and replication in a more racially diverse group, as current participants were mostly White. Coresh stressed that trial participants received unusually intensive care, including rapid device replacement, which may not reflect ordinary access.

Original report: The Hearing Review.