Study on the impact of hearing aid use and auditory training on cognition
Study
Researchers working at the Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn Victoria, Australia recently published an update on their study aimed at investigating the effect of hearing aid use and auditory training on cognition, depression, and social interaction in adults with hearing loss.
An increasingly large body of evidence points to age-related cognitive decline in older adults with hearing loss. Given that hearing aids have known benefits in alleviating sensorineural hearing loss and that auditory training has been found to produce prolonged improvements in cognitive performance, the team of researchers set up a clinical study bringing the two together.
Their study will investigate whether using hearing aids for the first time will improve the impact of face-to-face auditory training on cognition, depression, and social interaction. The group thinks that the combination of these two interventions will be more beneficial than auditory training alone.
The study follows a crossover design and will include 40 men and women between 50 and 90 years of age with either mild or moderate symmetrical hearing loss. The trial is currently recruiting and preliminary results are expected for June 2018. The researchers hope to find important information on aural rehabilitation and hearing aid delivery, and on how to set up future hearing loss trials.
Source: Nkyekyer J. et al. Investigating the Impact of Hearing Aid Use and Auditory Training on Cognition, Depressive Symptoms, and Social Interaction in Adults With Hearing Loss: Protocol for a Crossover Trial. JMIR Research Protocols. 2018 Mar 23;7(3):e85.
