Untreated Hearing Loss Linked to Poorer Cognition in Midlife

Adults with untreated hearing loss performed significantly worse than age- and socioeconomic status-matched peers with normal hearing across tests of memory, attention and executive function in a preliminary cross-sectional study of 48 middle-aged participants. The study, which included people aged 40–65, provides evidence of an association between hearing loss and cognitive performance in midlife, but it cannot establish which condition came first.

The participants comprised 24 adults with normal hearing and 24 with untreated hearing loss. Of those with hearing loss, nine had unilateral loss affecting one ear and 15 had bilateral loss affecting both ears. Researchers evaluated memory through forward and backward digit-span tests and a contextual memory test. Attention was assessed with a Go/No-Go task, while executive function was examined through letter and category fluency tasks.

The hearing-loss group showed poorer results on every cognitive task. Large effect sizes were observed for the memory tests, the category fluency task and Go/No-Go accuracy, indicating substantial group differences in those measures. The letter fluency tasks showed a moderate effect size. In multivariate linear regression, better-ear pure-tone thresholds independently predicted cognitive performance, whereas age and education did not. The authors described these findings as preliminary evidence that untreated hearing loss is associated with cognitive differences among middle-aged adults.

Because the research was cross-sectional and included only 48 participants, it cannot determine whether hearing loss contributed to the observed cognitive differences or whether the two conditions share underlying causes. The sample was also modest, limiting the strength and generalizability of the conclusions. The researchers therefore called for longitudinal studies to examine the temporal relationship between untreated hearing loss and changes in cognition over time.

Subject of Research: Association between untreated hearing loss and cognitive performance in middle-aged adults

Article Title: Cognitive effects of untreated unilateral and bilateral hearing loss in midlife: Preliminary evidence

Article References: Satheesan, L., Shastri, U., Bajaj, G., & Kalaiah, M. K. (2026). Cognitive effects of untreated unilateral and bilateral hearing loss in midlife: Preliminary evidence. PLOS One, 21(10), e0361204. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361204

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0361204

Keywords: hearing loss, cognition, midlife, memory, attention, executive function, pure-tone thresholds, cross-sectional study, Cognitive, effects, untreated, unilateral