Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2026
Association Between Sleep Quality and Cognitive Symptoms in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder
Published on: April 26, 2024
Hearing impairment and depressive symptoms in an older chinese population
Alex T H Lee1, Michael C F Tong, Kevin C P Yuen
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Objective:
To investigate the association of objectively measured hearing loss and depression in an older Chinese population.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Screening service provided to the elderly as part of a charity program in collaboration with a local group of medical and audiologic professionals.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted on community-dwelling people aged 60 years or above using pure-tone audiometry in a soundproof environment together with a validated Cantonese version of the Geriatric Depression Scale. The association of hearing loss and depression, together with a number of predisposing factors, was examined with multivariate analysis. The effect of hearing aid use was investigated in some subjects.
Main Outcome Measures:
The effect of both self-reported hearing impairment and objectively measured hearing loss on depressive symptoms, together with a number of predisposing factors, was examined with multivariate analysis.
Results:
Excluding those suffering from dementia, 914 people were included. Logistic regression showed that the main predicting factors of depression were poor self-perceived health, measured hearing loss, and female gender. Measured hearing loss gave an odds ratio of 1.649 (95% CI 1.048-2.595). The association of self-reported hearing loss with depression was shown in univariate analysis but not in multivariate analysis. Hearing aid use showed a tendency toward reducing depressive symptom scores.
Conclusions:
There is an independent association between depression and measured hearing loss in older Chinese but not between depression and self-reported hearing loss. Self-reported hearing impairment should not replace audiometry in estimating risks of hearing impairment. The use of hearing aids could improve the general well-being of our older population.
