Abstract
BackgroundFrailty is associated with poor health outcomes in later life. Recent studies suggested that hearing loss may be a potentially modifiable risk factor associated with frailty.MethodsThis systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between hearing loss and frailty in observational studies of adults aged 50 years or over. We included observational studies with participants ≥ 50 years old that have clear descriptions of hearing and frailty measurement methods. Meta-analyses were conducted using measurement of risk and 95 % confidence interval of each individual study. Quality assessment, risk of bias, heterogeneity and sensitivity analyses were also conducted. Our study followed PRISMA guidelines.ResultsOur search identified 4508 manuscripts published in English between 1 and 2000 and 9 February 2021. Sixteen articles reported acceptable measurements of both hearing loss and frailty. Two papers were not suitable for meta-analysis. Twelve sets of cross-sectional data involving 12,313 participants, and three sets of longitudinal data involving 3042 participants were used in the meta-analysis. Hearing loss was associated with an 87 % increase in the risk of frailty among cross-sectional studies (risk ratio [RR] 1.87; 95 %CI 1.63–2.13) and 56 % among longitudinal studies (RR 1.56; 95 %CI 1.29–1.88). There was considerable heterogeneity among studies, but their quality rating, sample size or approach used to assess hearing loss did not change the results substantially.ConclusionsThe findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies suggest that hearing loss increases the risk of frailty in later life. Whether this relationship is causal remains to be determined.
Highlights
IntroductionRecent studies suggested that hearing loss may be a potentially modifiable risk factor associated with frailty
Frailty is associated with poor health outcomes in later life
These promising results have led to renewed efforts to uncover other potentially modifiable risk factors associated with frailty, and hearing loss is one of them
Summary
Recent studies suggested that hearing loss may be a potentially modifiable risk factor associated with frailty. Recent research findings have shown that frailty is not a static syndrome, and many of its signs and symptoms can be reversed, at least partly, with appropriate interventions, such as physical activity, diet and review of medications [8,9,10]. These promising results have led to renewed efforts to uncover other potentially modifiable risk factors associated with frailty, and hearing loss is one of them. A UK study reported that only one-third of hearing impaired adults older than 70 years who could have benefit from hearing aids owned them, and among those with hearing aids, 10 % never used them [14]
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