Help Your Hearing — Improve Your Social Life — Get Healthier

Dear Tucson Audiologists’ Readers,

It’s no secret that good hearing promotes good mental health and that hearing aids help ensure this relationship.  That data has been around since 1998 when the HIA-NCOA study results first came out.[1]  We know from that study that good hearing builds good communication, which builds strong social relationships, keeps depression at bay, and increased patients’ “Quality of Life” scores. We always knew that our slogan “Celebrate Life Through Better Hearing” was meaningful, but read on to find out just how important staying connected to life really is!

Good hearing keeps you im the game, but how much is good social activity worth?  Various studies have linked social connections to better health and longer life, but it hasn’t been clear whether healthy people were more socially active to begin with.  Now, a  review of 148 studies that just came out from researchers at BrighamYoung University looks at healthy people who were followed for 7.5 years, on average.  The study(ies) controlled for the health of the subjects.[2][3]  

The results show that the value of social interaction is stronger and bigger than you’d think:  weak social ties in your community are a major risk factor to your health,  at least as harmful to your health as smoking, lack of exercise or obesity. For instance:

1.  You have a 50% lower risk of dying if you have close friends, family or work relationships.  
2.  Poor socialization threatens your health as much as if you were an alcoholic or were smoking a pack a day. 
3.  Poor social connections are harder on your health than not exercising, or being obese. 

The study concludes that medical checkups should screen patients for social well being, with the goal of enhancing social connections. 

It goes almost without saying that medical checkups should also screen patients for hearing loss, to ensure that patients have a good shot at maintaining social well being.  We think you’ll agree that hearing well is essential to maintaining and developing good social networks.  We hope you’ll share this with your friends and continue in your efforts to hear well and “Celebrate Life through Better Hearing!”

Submitted for Your Reading Pleasure,

Your Tucson Audiologists,

Holly Hosford-Dunn PhD FAAA

and

Sharon K Hopkins MA FAAA

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[1]  National Council on the Aging (NCOA): The Impact of Untreated Hearing Loss in Older Americans. Conducted by the Seniors Research Group. Supported through a grant from the Hearing Industries Association. Preliminary report, 12/28/98. Summaries of the report can be found at various sources, c.f. http://www.betterhearing.org/pdfs/MR40.pdf and http://www.audiology.org/resources/documentlibrary/Pages/UntreatedHearingLoss.aspx

[2] Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB,Layton JB (2010) Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. PLoS Med 7(7): e1000316. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316

[3] http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/a-new-risk-factor-your-social-life/?ref=health

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