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Yong Loo Lin
School of Medicine

NUS Medicine students and researchers find link between hearing and vision loss and mortality

Published: 19 Jan 2022

Photo credits: Mark Paton on Unsplash

Hearing loss affects 1 in 5 people globally, a phenomenon that is increasingly common as populations around the world start to age at a faster rate.

[Clockwise from top left] M5 medical student Benjamin Tan, M2 medical student Harris Song, Assoc Prof Loh Woei Shyang from Department of Otolaryngology, M3 medical student Nicole Tan and M4 medical student Faye Ng [Photo Credit: Benjamin Tan]

A team from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) comprising fifth-year student Benjamin Tan, fourth-year student Faye Ng, third-year student Nicole Tan and second-year student Harris Song and Associate Professor Loh Woei Shyang and Dr Ng Li Shia from the Department of Otolaryngology at NUS Medicine found that people who suffer from hearing loss have 13% and 28% increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death respectively, from 26 observational studies comprising over 1.2 million participants. It was found that people with both hearing and vision loss have a 40% and 86% increased risk of an all-cause and cardiovascular death respectively.

The team observed that the risk of death doubled for every 30 decibels increase in hearing loss. The study was published in issue 10(1001) of ‘JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery’, a leading international scientific journal for the ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialty.

Compared to vision loss and other long-term chronic illnesses, hearing loss has not received as much priority and attention, as it is harder for family members and patients themselves to detect the gradual and subtle decline in hearing. It is easy to make the connection that hearing loss increase the risk of death from traffic accidents and workplace injuries. However, through their research, the NUS Medicine team found that cardiovascular death occurred at a faster rate in people suffering from hearing loss, after taking into account age, sex, socioeconomic status and lifestyle habits such as smoking and alcohol use, and chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, cognitive impairment and stroke. The possible explanation that people with hearing loss have a higher risk of cardiovascular deaths may be because of the increased stress, anxiety and depression, which can worsen heart conditions.

Another possible explanation is that hearing loss may also worsen physical frailty which results in decreased body reserves, in turn increasing vulnerability to external stressors that trigger cardiovascular death. Though this finding is still insufficient to conclude a cause-and-effect relationship, it draws attention to the fact that hearing loss carries significant public health implications and is not simply a harmless consequence of ageing, as what many might think. There is an urgent need for physicians to give more priority to hearing loss and rectify it as soon as it is discovered, as it has a significant impact on longevity and healthy ageing.

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