Association between hearing loss and depressive symptoms among the middle-aged and elderly people in China

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the longitudinal association between hearing loss and depressive symptoms among the middle-aged and elderly people in China.Methods Related data were collected from the subjects who participated in at least two waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2011-2020. Hearing loss was assessed based on self-reported data，while depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test were used to compare the risk of depressive symptoms between groups. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the longitudinal association between hearing loss and depressive symptoms.Results A total of 12 952 subjects were enrolled in this study. At baseline，1 416 subjects（10.9%） reported hearing loss. During the median follow-up time of 5.42 years，5 498 subjects were found to have depressive symptoms. In the unadjusted model，the risk of depressive symptoms in the group with hearing loss at baseline was 1.34 times that in the group without hearing loss（P<0.05），and after adjustment for demographic variables，behavior and life styles，and health-related factors，hearing loss at baseline was still a risk factor for depressive symptoms（hazard ratio=1.21，95%CI=1.10-1.34）.Conclusion Hearing loss may increase the risk of depressive symptoms，and intervention for hearing loss can effectively reduce depression symptoms.