# Hearing Loss: People Using Hearing Aids Died Less Often

_Evidence Level: Moderate · Li CM et al., The lancet. Healthy longevity, DOI 10.1016/j.lanhl.2026.100903_

*Hearing loss, hearing-aid use, and mortality risk: individual participant data meta-analysis of population-based studies from Australia, Iceland, and the USA and a replication study from Norway.*

- **Evidence Level**: Moderate
- **Why this grade**: An individual-data meta-analysis of three population studies with 13,851 people, replicated in Norway; being observational, it cannot establish cause and effect.
- **Facts**: Funding: Macquarie University; NIDCD/NIH; Icelandic Heart Association; NIOSH/CDC…
- **Publication Types**: Journal Article
- **Journal**: The lancet. Healthy longevity
- **Sample Size**: 13,851 adults; 50,277 in Norway replication
- **Authors**: Li CM, Hoffman HJ, Engdahl B, Gopinath B, McMahon CM, Themann CL, Gudnason V, Davis AC
- **Graded and published**: 2026-10-14
- **Topics**: Mortality, Heart Health, Hearing Health
- **DOI**: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanhl.2026.100903
- **Original Source**: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42869063/

## Summary

The worse people heard, the higher their mortality in large population studies, including deaths from cardiovascular disease. Researchers pooled individual data from 13,851 people in Australia, Iceland and the USA whose hearing had been measured with a hearing test. Even mild hearing loss was linked to higher mortality, and the link was strongest from moderate hearing loss upward. People currently using hearing aids, by contrast, died less often, and a Norwegian study of 50,277 adults showed the same pattern. These observational data cannot show whether hearing aids themselves extend life; the authors call this an important question for future research.

## Practical Takeaway

More severe hearing loss was linked to higher mortality, while current hearing-aid use was linked to lower mortality.

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_Canonical: https://longevity-germany.com/en/research/hearing-loss-people-using-hearing-aids-died-less-often · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-10-14_