Association Between Hearing Impairment and Incident Depression: A Nationwide Follow‐up Study

Abstract

BackgroundAccumulating evidence suggests that hearing impairment is associated with the onset of depression. However, large‐scale epidemiological studies are required to define this association more clearly. We aimed to investigate the risk of new‐onset depression in Korean older adults with and without hearing impairment.MethodsFrom the National Health Insurance Service‐Senior Cohort, which is a retrospective‐prospective hybrid database, we analyzed data for 254,466 older adults enrolled in the Korea National Health Insurance Service‐Senior Cohort who underwent at least one health screening between 2003 and 2019. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate the association between hearing impairment and the risk of incident depression, which was presented as adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All participants were followed up until the date of incident depression, death, or December 31, 2019.ResultsDuring 3,417,682 person‐years of follow‐up investigation, hearing impairment was associated with a higher risk of incident depression (vs. no hearing impairment) in the final adjusted model (aHR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01–1.21; p = 0.033). Stratified analyses revealed a significant interaction among age, hearing impairment, and the risk of depression. Participants aged <65 years had a higher risk of depression (aHR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.12–1.50; p < 0.001) than those aged 65 or above (aHR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.01–1.30; p = 0.032).ConclusionsHearing impairment is independently associated with a higher risk of depression among older adults. The prevention and treatment of hearing impairment may aid in mitigating the risk of incident depression.Level of EvidenceLevel 3 Laryngoscope, 133:3144–3151, 2023