A personalised intervention for hearing care could help protect cognitive health in older adults at risk of dementia, according to a pilot study from UCL and UCLH.
The study, supported by the UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, found that a personalised hearing intervention led to a significantly higher hearing aid use among people with mild cognitive impairment - a group that is particularly vulnerable to cognitive decline.
The personalised intervention included four sessions to help people get the most from their hearing aids. These sessions covered fitting and adjusting the devices, setting personal communication goals, practical support to build hearing aid use into daily life, and fine-tuning the settings if needed.
The successful pilot trial, published in the journal Age and Ageing, was set in community memory clinics across three NHS Trusts and involved 58 patients aged 55 or older with untreated hearing loss. The results showed that 75% of participants receiving personalised hearing support used their hearing aids daily, compared to just 22% following standard care. This increase in hearing aid use is particularly significant because hearing loss is a major modifiable risk factor for dementia. UCL research has previously found that addressing hearing loss and 13 other modifiable risk factors could prevent or delay nearly half of dementia cases.*
The research provides a practical pathway to address a critical public health challenge: while untreated hearing loss increases dementia risk, many people who could benefit from hearing aids don't use them consistently. This intervention demonstrates that it is possible to engage a population of people with mild memory problems, and provides a proven approach to overcome this barrier in those most at risk.
Chief Investigator of the study, Professor Sergi Costafreda (UCL Psychiatry), said: "Our pilot study shows that we can recruit and retain people with mild memory problems in a study like this, and that the intervention was acceptable to patients - with three-quarters of patients in the intervention group using their hearing aids daily. There were indications in our study that people in the intervention group performed better in a cognitive test, but we now need a larger trial where we can properly test this."
Co-author Professor Anne Schilder (UCL Ear Institute), BRC Hearing Health Theme Director, said: "Our pilot study shows we could now confidently move on to a large-scale study where we look at the impact of this hearing health intervention on cognitive function. This group may stand to benefit the most from hearing aids, given the potential role of hearing aids in preserving cognition and independent living."
The study, called Treating Auditory impairment and Cognition Trial (TACT), was funded by Alzheimer's Research UK.
