Untreated hearing impairment due to higher health costs, more hospitalizations

(Reuters Health) – – Two US studies suggest that older people with untreated hearing loss may develop additional health problems resulting in more frequent hospitalizations and higher health costs than their counterparts without a medical condition. # 39; s hearing.

One study followed 4,728 people for a decade, starting at age 61 on average. Half had untreated hearing loss. Over 10 years, this translates into a total health care cost of $ 22,434 more per person, and more than 40% more hospitalizations and repeat admissions.

"There are two potential causes between hearing loss and increased spending and utilization of health care," said Nicholas Reed, lead author of the study, Faculty of Medicine. Medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

"The first is that hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline, dementia, depression, and social isolation, all of which could contribute to increased spending and the use of health care. Said Reed by e-mail. "Second, untreated hearing loss could hinder patient-provider communication."

Doctors and patients may not realize that hearing loss contributes to preventable miscommunication on treatment plans, said author of an accompanying editorial, Dr. Michael McKee from the faculty of medicine at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Clinicians should speak directly to patients in a quiet room, follow up to see if they understand and can repeat what has been said, McKee told Reuters Health. There are also portable hearing aids that could be used in hospitals and doctors' offices to help patients communicate more easily with clinicians.

"Patients also need to feel empowered and express themselves when they do not understand," McKee said via e-mail. "They have the right to know their medical information."

In the United States, more than 38 million adults have hearing loss, including two-thirds of people over 70, note Reed and colleagues in their report published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

Hearing loss has been linked to a range of health problems, including cognitive decline, falls, depression, decreased quality of life, and an increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths. visits to the emergency.

A second study in the same journal used insurance claims data to examine associations between hearing and other health problems in 4,728 adults aged 50 and over, half of whom had been diagnosed with a loss. hearing.

After five years of follow-up, hearing impaired people without a hearing aid hearing were 50% more likely than non-hearing impaired to have a new diagnosis of dementia and 41% more likely to have a new diagnosis of depression than people without hearing problems, the study found.

The researchers calculated that over 10 years, 3.2 cases of dementia, 3.6 falls and 6.9 cases of depression for every 100 people with one of these diagnoses were attributable to untreated hearing loss.

"What we do not know yet, is if the treatment of hearing loss can help prevent or delay one of these problems," said Jennifer Deal, lead author of the study. study, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

People often do not get help because they can not afford a hearing aid, Deal said via email.

"Hearing aids are incredibly expensive," said Deal. "The average cost per pair in the United States is $ 4,700 and they are not covered by Medicare."

Proving that treating hearing loss could improve the health of older people could help change the situation, said David Loughrey of the University of California at San Francisco and Trinity College Dublin, who wrote an editorial on the subject. # 39; study.

"If clinical trials can demonstrate that treating hearing loss can help adults stay healthy and delay or prevent dementia, this would have significant implications for public health policy," Loughrey said by mail. electronic. "The cost of treating hearing loss should be measured against the cost of treating health problems such as dementia, which is estimated to cost $ 1 trillion in 2018 worldwide, to reach $ 2 trillion. 39, here 2030 ".

SOURCE: bit.ly/2Q1vSHt, bit.ly/2Rq1DGZ, bit.ly/2DNJzT8 and bit.ly/2P5TDbZ JAMA Head and Neck Surgery, Online November 8, 2018.