Trends and driving factors of age-related hearing loss and severity over 30 years: a cross-sectional study

Age-related hearing loss (AHL) is a modifiable risk factor for chronic disability and cognitive decline in adults over 60 years globally. Despite its preventable nature, long-term trends (1992-2021) in AHL burden and its demographic, socioeconomic, occupational noise exposures, and geographic drivers remain underexplored, limiting targeted intervention strategies.

This observational study analyzed age-standardized prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs) for AHL among adults aged ≥60 years using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (1992-2021). Data were stratified by sex, age, region, and nation, with demographic decomposition to isolate population aging effects and Bayesian spatiotemporal regression to quantify modifiable drivers (e.g., occupational noise). Temporal trends were evaluated by calculating annual average percentage change (AAPC) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

From 1992 to 2021, AHL-related prevalence and YLDs showed an upward trend globally (AAPC _prevalence = 0.14 [95% CI: 0.13, 0.14]; AAPC _YLDs = 0.17 [95% CI: 0.15, 0.20]). There was a downward trend in the YLDs of AHL from 1992 to 1995 (AAPC _YLDs = -0.08 [95% CI: -0.19, 0.04]). Regionally, while most regions showed an increasing trend in AHL prevalence, 1990-2019, some regions still showed a decreasing trend (AAPC _{Western sub-Saharan Africa} = -0,22 [95% CI: -0.37, -0.08]). In 2021, in the countries with middle socio-demographic index (SDI) levels, the older the population, the higher the prevalence and YLDs of AHL. Furthermore, the burden of AHL varies by age and sex and has unique temporal and spatial features. Notably, higher SDI levels correlated with reduced occupational noise-attributable burdens, while adults aged 70-74 years exhibited the highest occupational noise-driven YLDs.

The global burden of AHL continues to rise, which is a growing problem for countries with medium SDI levels. Occupational noise exposure emerges as a critical modifiable risk factor, particularly in rapidly industrializing economies, highlighting the urgent need to prioritize workplace hearing protection programs and targeted noise control policies tailored to regional contexts. These interventions are especially vital for older men in low-resource settings and medically underserved countries to mitigate preventable disability and address health inequities.