Can listening-related fatigue influence well-being? Examining associations between hearing loss, fatigue, activity levels and well-being.
Jack A Holman, Benjamin W Y Hornsby, Fred H Bess and 1 others
PMID 33390065WHAT IT FOUND
Hearing loss was linked to lower work and physical activity, while social findings were mixed.
Device use was linked to more activity in some studies, but this review could not show that hearing loss or devices caused fatigue or reduced well-being.
Key findings
01Hearing loss was associated with lower work activity in 17 studies, while five studies did not support that link.
02Hearing loss was associated with lower physical activity in ten studies, while five found no effect.
03Hearing device use was linked to increased work activity in five of nine studies and increased social activity in seven of eleven studies, but physical activity evidence was too thin.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Most included studies were observational, and many outcomes were self-reported, so they show associations rather than causation. The review did not formally assess evidence quality, and only one study mentioned power analysis. Social activity measurement was often insensitive, and some studies used questionnaires that only partly measured activity level. Hearing device use was often inferred from ownership or fitting rather than actual intensity of use. Evidence for hearing devices and physical activity was limited to two studies with basic measures. Many studies involved older adults, so findings may not apply to younger people.
Declared interests
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council [grant numbers MR/R502169/1 and MR/S003576/1] and by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government. The supplied text does not report other author conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that hearing aids or cochlear implants reduce fatigue or improve well-being. The review found inconsistent associations, mostly from observational and self-reported studies, and it did not formally assess study quality, so it cannot show that device use caused these changes.