A recent study that emphasises the value of therapies like hearing aids suggests that people with hearing loss may be more likely to feel fatigued.
Research published earlier this month in JAMA Otolaryngology by Kening Jiang, a PhD student at the school of Public Health, Head & Neck Surgery has extensive implications for doctors who treat patients with hearing loss.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used as the source of data for the new study. The researchers examined replies from 3,031 adults 40 and older, between 2015 and 2018.
Participants were questioned on how frequently they had experienced fatigue or low energy throughout the previous two weeks.
In contrast to merely 7% of those without hearing loss, they discovered that 10.7% of those with hearing loss reported “feeling tired or having little energy” more than half the time. In addition, 12.7% of those who had hearing loss reported doing so almost daily, compared to just 7.3% of those who did not.
Despite the fact that the study contributed to our understanding of the relationship between hearing loss and weariness, Jiang pointed out two drawbacks, namely the fact that the conclusions were based only on the answers to one question and that the replies were self-reported.
As opposed to data obtained by researchers’ non-objective measurements, participant observations are regarded to yield less accurate results.
Speaking to Health, audiologist Sarah Sydlowski shared that medical professionals frequently caution patients about the connection between hearing loss and weariness.
“The way I usually explain it to my patients is that you can think of yourself as having a bucket, and it’s full to the top with your cognitive energy,” she explained. “Patients with hearing loss are dumping a lot of that cognitive energy out right from the get-go because you have to use it to hear and understand. So, you have less available to you.”
Some extremely stimulating situations such as conversations when numerous people are speaking at once, environments with a lot of background noise, or conversations with people who have accents, might make hearing loss patients even more weary than usual.
Sydlowski added while speaking to Health that the stress of hearing loss may also be related to increased fatigue.
“I work frequently with people who have a hearing loss in one ear, and they worry about what they might be missing on the side where they don’t hear well,” she said.
If they turn their heads at the wrong time, people who have hearing loss in one ear frequently worry that they will miss dangers like oncoming cars. According to Sydlowski, dealing with all of these stressors can be draining.
