Hearing loss should be recognised as an independent risk factor for depression, according to researchers who conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 24 studies on the association between hearing loss and depression.
“Our meta-analysis shows that hearing loss increases the risk of depression,” Professor Xiongbin Gui from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine and colleagues wrote. “These findings provide evidence that hearing loss should be recognised as an independent risk factor for depression.”
Prof Gui and other reviewers from Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China, reported findings in Frontiers in Neurology on 9 October 2024.
They said previous studies had suggested a possible link between hearing loss and the risk of depression but the strength of this association remained uncertain across varying follow-up periods, age groups, cohort studies, and longitudinal study designs.
Their meta-analysis comprised 24 cohort studies conducted between 2007 and 2024, with sample sizes ranging from 548 to 254,466 participants. Among these participants, 24,304 had experienced depression events.
The pooling analysis showed hearing loss was associated with an increased risk of depression (OR=1.35; 95%CI: 1.27-1.44).
In the subgroup analysis, the retrospective cohort exhibited a slightly higher risk of depression compared to the prospective cohort (OR = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.30-1.58).
There were also differences in the risk of depression among young, middle-aged, and older individuals, with older adults facing a higher risk (OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.21-1.45).
Additionally, the risk of depression was slightly higher in the sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) group compared to the non-SSNHL group (OR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.27-2.07).
In groups with a follow-up time of five or more years, the risk of depression was higher compared to those with less than five years of follow-up (OR = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.26-1.54).
The paper was provisionally accepted with the final, formatted version due to be published soon.
