29 August 2025

Does hearing loss cause dementia?

This article was originally published in September 2021 and has been updated with additional research and information every year since. In April 2024, we added a Hearing Tracker video with a panel discussing current research and what it means. In September 2024 we updated the article with the latest relevant research. We also highlighted the retraction of a previous major study. In August 2025 we have again updated the article with the latest research and available statistics.

Reality or fearmongering?

Over recent years, there has been increased media coverage of the link between hearing loss and dementia. Some hearing aid providers have leaned heavily on this message in promoting their services, at times in ways that can feel alarmist.

Understandably, this may cause concern that not treating hearing loss will inevitably lead to dementia.

But what does the research really say, and why has this connection received so much attention in recent times?

In this article we review the latest research and, if like us, you are still confused by the end of it, we give the final word to one of the leading internationally recognised experts in the field.

What is dementia?

Let’s start off by understanding what dementia is. Dementia is not a single disease, but a syndrome caused by a range of conditions that affect the brain. The most common cause is Alzheimer’s disease, which is responsible for the majority of progressive dementia cases.

Dementia is a general term describing symptoms affecting brain function, including your memory, ability to think, and the ability for social interaction. You may be surprised to know that end-stage dementia is one of the leading causes of death in the Australian population.

According to Dementia Australia, in 2025, more than 433,300 Australians are living with dementia.

That number is expected to increase to almost 812,500 by 2054 unless a medical breakthrough is discovered.

Dementia in Australia

• Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australian. Provisional data suggests it will soon be the leading cause.
• Dementia is already the leading cause of death for Australian women.
• In 2025 there are an estimated 29,000 people living with early-onset dementia, expected to increase to an estimated 41,000 people by 2054. This can include people in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
• An estimated 1.7 million people in Australia are involved in the care of someone living with dementia.
• 2 in 3 people with dementia are thought to be living in the community.
• 54% of people living in permanent residential aged care have dementia.

Dementia around the world

In March 2025 the World Health Organisation published the following key facts:

• In 2021, 57 million people had dementia worldwide, over 60% of whom live in low-and middle-income countries. Every year, there are nearly 10 million new cases.
• Dementia results from a variety of diseases and injuries that affect the brain. Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases.
• Dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death and one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people globally.
• In 2019, dementia cost economies globally US$ 1.3 trillion, approximately 50% of these costs are attributable to care provided by informal carers (e.g. family members and close friends), who provide on average 5 hours of care and supervision per day.
• Women are disproportionately affected by dementia, both directly and indirectly. Women experience higher disability-adjusted life years and mortality due to dementia but also provide 70% of care hours for people living with dementia.

What are the early symptoms of dementia?

Dementia symptoms start subtly and can be hard to spot initially. Watch for the signs below to recognise dementia as early as possible.

• Progressive and frequent memory loss, especially related to recent events
• Signs of confusion increasing over time
• Personality or behavioural changes
• A reduction in the ability to focus or concentrate
• Apathy, withdrawal or depression
• Loss of ability to perform everyday tasks.

Remember that displaying some or all these symptoms may not necessarily indicate dementia, but it is best to investigate and identify the causes as early as possible.

What causes dementia?

Since dementia is not a specific disease, the symptoms of dementia can be caused by several different disorders, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s disease.

Other causes include:

• Vascular dementia
• Parkinson’s disease. Dementia is common in people with this condition.
• Dementia with Lewy bodies
• Frontotemporal dementia
• Severe head injury
• Huntington’s disease
• Leukoencephalopathies
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Some cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
• Multiple-system atrophy
• Infections such as late-stage syphilis
• Inherited dementia

It’s important to remember there are several causes of dementia, and depending on the cause, some symptoms may be reversible.

The link between hearing loss and dementia

Looking at the causes above, we don’t see ‘hearing loss’ listed explicitly as a cause of dementia. So how has hearing loss been connected to dementia, and why are some organisations touting hearing loss treatment as a preventative measure for dementia?

While a tenuous link between hearing loss and dementia was suggested as far back as the late 1980s, it was a 2020 report in The Lancet that really put the link in the spotlight.

The document, Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission, highlighted 12 things (risk factors) that people could modify that might prevent or delay up to 40% of dementias.

One of those things was encouraging hearing aid use for hearing loss and reducing hearing loss by avoiding excessive noise exposure. This key message was reported by media organisations worldwide and picked up and amplified by hearing aid manufacturers and resellers.

Before we go any further, it is important to understand that this risk factor was just one of many that could potentially reduce the likelihood of developing dementia over time. The researchers also identified at what life-stage risks should be addressed to have the most significant impact on dementia outcomes.

Modifiable risk factors and life-stages:

• Attain a high level of education (Early Life)
• Treat hearing impairment (Midlife)
• Minimise diabetes (Later life)
• Treat hypertension (Midlife)
• Prevent head injury (Midlife
• Reduce midlife obesity (Midlife)
• Avoid excessive alcohol (Midlife)
• Stop smoking (Later life)
• Reduce air pollution (Later life)
• Maintain frequent exercise (Later life)
• Reduce the occurrence of depression (Later life)
• Maintain regular social contact (Later life)

While treating hearing impairment is just one of the 12 modifiable risk factors, it was ranked as the highest modifiable risk out of the 12 at 8%. The next closest was smoking at 5%.

If all risks were modified or eliminated, it could reduce the risks of dementia by up to 40%.

What does research about dementia and hearing loss actually say?

As seen above enough research has come to light that is strong enough for the writers of the Lancet report to include hearing loss as one of the risks for dementia. But is the link causal or just a correlation?

New Research in 2025

We have yet again trawled the interwebs and found a raft of new studies related to dementia and reference just a few below.

A 2024 meta-analysis of cohort studies covering 1.5 million participants found that adult-onset hearing loss significantly increases the likelihood of cognitive decline and dementia. Notably, each 10-decibel drop in hearing was associated with about a 16% higher risk of developing dementia, and overall, the authors concluded that hearing loss consistently correlates with greater risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia

A study published in Communications Psychology in July 2025 found that people with hearing loss experienced faster decline in memory and thinking skills as they aged. The effect was even stronger for those who also felt lonely, even if they weren’t socially isolated in a practical sense. Memory loss was more strongly affected than other types of thinking. The findings suggest that looking after hearing health, alongside supporting emotional and social wellbeing, is important for protecting brain health later in life.

A secondary analysis of existing research on the link between hearing loss, hearing treatment, and brain health found that older adults with several risk factors for memory decline benefitted the most from treating hearing loss. In this high-risk group, people who received hearing treatment had brain decline that was about 60% slower over three years compared to those who only received health education. The findings suggest that treating hearing loss may help protect brain function in older adults, especially those at greater risk of dementia, though the study also said that more research is needed to understand long-term effects.

A new analysis from the long-running Framingham Heart Study suggests that people under age 70 with hearing loss who use hearing aids may significantly reduce their risk of developing dementia over the following decades. The research found a 61% lower risk of incident dementia among younger participants with hearing loss who reported wearing hearing aids compared to those with untreated hearing loss.

This is one of several studies that appear to make a stronger link between untreated hearing loss and dementia.

Another is a study released in October 2024, that aimed to investigate the causal relationship between hearing impairment and its subtypes with dementia and cognitive function using two-sample Mendelian randomisation analysis – a research method scientists use to test whether one thing causes another, rather than just being linked by coincidence.

The study appears to provide evidence supporting a causal relationship between hearing impairment and increased risks of different types of dementia as well as poorer general cognitive function.

More studies this year have again confirmed a correlation between hearing loss and dementia, and from our reading it seems that researchers are getting more at ease with linking the two but it’s, as always, important to recognise that we are yet to understand that link. Is it causal, or purely a correlation?

As Andrew McCall, MD, associate professor of head and neck surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA states:

“The linkage is largely based on associational studies, so there’s a high coincidence of the two problems, of having dementia or cognitive decline and having hearing loss,” says Dr. McCall.

He relates two thoughts on the possible cause of this connection.

“If you have less hearing, the brain has less inputs to be able to process, and that can result in the brain not functioning as well as it used to,” he says. “Another hypothesis would be that it’s pretty common if you have fairly severe hearing loss to become more socially isolated. And people think it’s the social isolation that leads to cognitive decline because the individual’s not interacting with others as much. Again, those are hypotheses. Nobody really knows for sure, but there is a pretty strong association between the two conditions.”

At the very least most research supports the notion of the importance of addressing hearing impairment as a modifiable risk factor for dementia, which was the same conclusion made by the Lancet article we discussed earlier.

For research mentioned in previous years, please see the end of this article.

Correlation vs Causation

While new research is continuously being added to the cannon of information we have on dementia and hearing loss, we still must be careful with our interpretations.

While there certainly appears to be a correlation between hearing loss and dementia, researchers are still pointing out that we still don’t know if correlation equals causation in this case. Even the original Lancet report was hesitant, stating only that: “Hearing loss might result in cognitive decline through reduced cognitive stimulation.”

While it is much harder to prove causality in human subjects, some research has been conducted in animal subjects that shows a relationship between induction of hearing loss and cognitive decline. However, the researchers were not willing to state that the hearing loss was the sole cause of the cognitive decline or enough to trigger an ongoing degenerative process such as Alzheimer’s.

In April 2024, Hearing Tracker released a great video discussing these findings and what it actually means. It’s an easily digestible message you can view below.

What do we know?

Since 2021 we have been looking for the study or published research that will comprehensively show that a causal link exists between hearing loss and dementia. In 2025 we are still waiting.

We know there is a strong correlation between hearing loss and dementia.

Some studies show that this correlation is more substantial depending on the severity of the hearing loss and the age at which it presents itself.

We also know that, along with treating hearing loss, other modifiable risks of dementia, like social interaction and depression, can be affected by hearing loss. It has long been established by studies of people with hearing loss that untreated hearing loss can lead to greater social isolation and depression.

In effect, this means that by diagnosing and treating hearing loss early, we can effectively help modify three of the risk behaviours listed in the 2020 Lancet report. These three risk factors alone accounted for 16% of the 40% increased risk attributed to the 12 risk factors identified above.

Hearing aids and dementia

Here’s what we also know thanks to the 2020 Lancet report mentioned previously:

• A 25-year study of 3,777 people aged 65 years or older found increased dementia incidence in those with self-reported hearing problems except in those using hearing aids.
• Another study found hearing loss was only associated with worse cognition in those not using hearing aids.
• A survey of 2040 people older than 50 years, tested every two years for 18 years, found immediate and delayed recall deteriorated less after initiation of hearing aid use, adjusting for other risk factors.
• Hearing aid use was the largest factor protecting from decline.

The Lancet researchers stated that the long follow-up times in these prospective studies suggest hearing aid use is protective, rather than the possibility that those developing dementia are less likely to use hearing aids.

In a study, published in 2022, researchers in Japan found that regular hearing aid use may have a protective effect on cognitive impairment in those with moderate hearing loss. This finding came from a study of 1163 people with hearing loss over the age of 60.

They also found that hearing level remained a primary risk factor for cognitive impairment among elders with hearing loss after adjusting for several confounding factors.

In another study published in January 2022, researchers analysed the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) database for links between hearing loss and dementia.

SPARCS collects patient-level detail on patient characteristics, diagnoses and treatments, services, and charges for each hospital inpatient stay and outpatient (ambulatory surgery, emergency department, and outpatient services) visit; and each ambulatory surgery and outpatient services visit to a hospital extension clinic and diagnostic and treatment centre licensed to provide ambulatory surgery services.

The researchers looked at data from 2007 to 2017, which included over 206,000 people over the age of 60 – 56,523 with hearing loss and 150,278 without.

Their findings: hearing loss diagnosis was associated with an increased risk of incident dementia based on the data contained in SPARCS. Individuals with a more established diagnosis of hearing loss (eg more hearing loss claims) demonstrated an increased hazard ratio.

Are you still confused?

It can be hard for people not involved in research to interpret what the above actually means. That’s why we are lucky to be able to provide a statement from Professor Piers Dawes, Professor of Audiology and Director of The University of Queensland Centre for Hearing Research.

“Hearing better can help you to live better. But it is misleading to imply there is evidence that hearing loss causes dementia, and that treating hearing loss reduces the risk of dementia.”

“Based on current evidence, we can say that hearing loss is associated with a small increased risk of developing dementia. However, there is no good evidence that hearing loss causes dementia. Although hearing loss is associated with increased risk of dementia at a population level, it is not a leading risk factor for dementia at an individual level. There is no convincing evidence that hearing interventions reduce the risk of dementia in the general population.”

What do we recommend?

As we have recommended in the past, if you think you have hearing loss, please make an appointment with your hearing health professional, or get a referral from your GP and get a comprehensive assessment.

The benefits better hearing can provide to overall quality of life has always been clear and treating hearing loss may help modify other risk factors for dementia.

As Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D. from John Hopkins says: “Brain scans show us that hearing loss may contribute to a faster rate of atrophy in the brain. Hearing loss also contributes to social isolation. You may not want to be with people as much, and when you are you may not engage in conversation as much. These factors may contribute to dementia.”

Irrespective of whether we have the final word on causal linkages, BHA would encourage anyone to seek testing and treatment for hearing loss the moment they (or their family members) realise that their hearing is not as good as it has been.

The Australian Government provides free testing and quality hearing devices to eligible pensioners through its Hearing Services Program. The program is delivered by thousands of audiologists throughout the country, so you can find one close to you.

If you are not an eligible pensioner and your hearing loss is severe enough, you may qualify for NDIS funding.

If you are on a low income and unable to afford hearing aids, BHA offers the Hearing Access Program, which helps eligible people access lower-cost, quality refurbished hearing devices.

Previous research included in earlier versions of this article

In January 2024 Science Daily published research from the University of Southern Denmark showing featuring data from 573,088 people. Researchers at the university claim to have found a link between hearing loss and the development of dementia.

The study is a cohort study that follows a group of people with common characteristics over a longer period of time.  Conducted between 2003-2017, the study looked at people above 50 years of age and from the Region of Southern Denmark. People diagnosed with dementia before the commencement of the study were excluded. The researchers compared data on people’s hearing with data on the development of dementia during the period. The researchers have found a clear correlation between hearing loss and the development of dementia.

“We found that the risk of developing dementia was 20% higher for people who didn’t wear hearing aids compared to people with normal hearing. People who used hearing aids had a 6% increased risk of developing dementia. This suggests that wearing a hearing aid can prevent or delay the development of dementia,” explained Assistant Professor Manuella Lech Cantuaria from the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Southern Denmark.

In a review of cohort studies, published in ScienceDirect, researchers looked at 50 studies involving over 1.5 million people. The review of the studies showed that hearing loss in adulthood is a risk factor for dementia. It increases the likelihood of developing cognitive issues, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. For every 10-decibel decrease in hearing, the risk of dementia rises by 16%. This effect is consistent regardless of the type of dementia or other factors.

Another study from 2024 published in Nature Aging, is the first we have seen showing a direct connection between hearing loss and cognitive impairment – albeit in mice.

The study linked hearing loss with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but how it triggers the disease isn’t well understood. Researchers found that hearing loss worsens cognitive problems in both normal mice and those engineered to model AD. A protein called GDF1, which is important for brain function, is reduced in deaf mice. When GDF1 levels were restored, cognitive decline improved, even in mice with Alzheimer’s. GDF1 helps protect brain cells by stopping harmful processes linked to AD. This research suggests that boosting GDF1 could be a new way to treat or prevent Alzheimer’s.

Closer to home we are excited to see the commencement of a two-year randomised control trial into hearing loss and dementia.

The trial, being conducted by Ear Science Institute of Australia, will investigate whether the correction of hearing loss using hearing aids could decrease the 12-month rate of cognitive decline among older adults at risk of dementia. 180 older adults with hearing loss and mild cognitive impairment were recruited to undertake the study and we look forward to the results when they become available.

We are also starting to see an increasing prevalence of Young-Onset Dementia (dementia diagnosed in people under 65), and more research is being focused on this cohort.

In late 2023 JAMA Neurology published a study highlighting key factors associated with young-onset dementia (YOD), which affects people under the age of 65. Key findings included several risk factors, such as heart disease, strokes, alcohol use disorder, and certain genetic mutations. The study found that lifestyle factors, like being socially isolated and having low vitamin D levels, also play a role. In men, diabetes was particularly linked to YOD, as well as depression, lower education levels, and, importantly, hearing loss.

A 2023 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health revealed that older adults with more severe hearing loss have a higher likelihood of dementia; however, the study also found that dementia risk is lower among hearing aid users compared to non-users.

This nationally representative study analysed data from over 2,400 older adults and aligns with previous research indicating a potential link between hearing loss and dementia risk over time.

While the study does state the importance of addressing hearing loss as a public health issue and suggests that treating hearing loss could contribute to lowering the risk of dementia, it uses qualifying language like “may” or “might” when talking about whether it is hearing loss that is the cause of dementia.

A 2022 study of over 382,000 participants in Korea found that for those over 65 with severe or profound hearing loss, the likelihood of getting dementia increased by 1.3 times.

Their results showed that for those under 65, with severe or profound hearing loss, the risk was greater at 1.6 to almost two times the likelihood of developing dementia.

In a review and analysis of research studies related to the link between dementia and hearing loss carried out in 2018, researchers found “age-related hearing loss was significantly associated with decline in all main cognitive domains and with increased risk for cognitive impairment and incident dementia.”

The researchers analysed 36 different studies and over 20,000 unique participants and found the studies confirmed that age-related hearing loss is a possible modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline.

Another study in the UK published in 2021 looked at the association between speech-in-noise (SiN) hearing impairment and the increased risk of incident dementia.

This study was an interesting deviation from other research as studies have previously focused on pure-tone audiometry for measuring hearing loss associated with dementia. People who suffer from a speech-in-noise impairment may present as normal hearing when tested using just pure-tone tests.

The study looked at over 82,000 dementia-free patients 60 years or older. Over 11 years, researchers followed these participants and, by the end of the study, concluded that out of the 1,285 participants who developed dementia, 61% had an increased risk of dementia due to SiN hearing loss.

They stated: “SiN hearing impairment is independently associated with incident dementia, providing further evidence for hearing impairment as a potential modifiable dementia risk factor.”

These are just a few of the studies highlighting the association between untreated hearing loss and the incidence of dementia. A quick Google search for scholarly articles on “hearing loss and dementia” brings up over 239,000 results up from 157,000 in 2021.

Retracted research

In previous years we have referred to an article published in the Lancet in April 2023,  which found that people with hearing loss and no hearing aids were found to have a 42% higher risk of dementia compared to those without hearing loss.

However, this study has since been retracted as data for people with hearing loss using hearing aids and with hearing loss without using hearing aids were switched, leading to errors in their analysis which render the findings and conclusions false and misleading.

Does this retraction change anything?

Not really. While that study may have been retracted there are many more that show the correlation between hearing loss and dementia and we have listed some of them above and more below.

This is supported by Professor Kaarin Anstey, director of the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute and lead of the Brain Health and Dementia Centre at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), it’s important to understand the context.

“There is consistent evidence that people with hearing loss are at increased risk of dementia and this article retraction does not change this,” Professor Anstey explained. “Therefore we still support inclusion of hearing loss in risk assessments.”

Associate Professor Michael Woodward, who is honorary medical advisor at Dementia Australia and Director of Dementia Research at Austin Health, also stated that it remains important to assess for and treat hearing loss.

“My advice to GPs would be to detect and address hearing loss as it is clearly a risk factor for dementia. And it may be as simple as removing impacted wax – but do not fear hearing aids if needed – indeed, encourage your patients to wear them (older men are particularly notorious for leaving them out),” he said.