The findings of a team from John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, show that the greater a person's hearing impairment, the greater their risk of death.
The occurrence of hearing impairment (HI) doubles with every decade of life and affects two thirds of adults older than 70.
HI is closely associated with lower levels of wellbeing and quality of life. According to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), it can, for example, make it more difficult to respond to warnings, hear doorbells and smoke alarms.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 360 million people around the globe have disabling hearing loss, defined as hearing loss greater than 40 decibels (dB) in the better hearing ear.
The data for this latest study came from 2005-06 and 2009-10 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The study population was made up of 1,666 adults who had undergone audiometric testing and were 70 years or older.
Probability matching between this data and death certificates from the National Death Index through to the end of December 2011 was used to determine mortality.