(0916) Are They Actually Dancing on Their Own? Hearing Loss is Associated with Increased Self-Reported Social Support

Introduction: Hearing loss (HL) may socially isolate individuals, reducing their quality of life while possibly increasing their risk of conditions like dementia and depression. In this study, we examine whether hearing loss is associated with decreased social support using a newly available large national cohort.

Methods: Data entered in the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program was analyzed for individuals who completed 8 items adapted from the RAND Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Study Instrument between November 2021 and January 2022. Questions included “How often do you have someone to have a good time with?” and “How often do you have someone to love and make you feel wanted?”. Bilateral sensorineural HL and potential medical confounders were defined per ICD-10 codes. Multivariable linear regressions analyzing the relationship between HL and social support were adjusted for potential confounders, including age, sex, race, ethnicity, education, income, a zip code-based social deprivation index, and relevant medical conditions, such as depression and dementia.

Results: In total, 8,722 individuals 18 years or older had complete data. The average age was 64.8 years (SD = 13 years), and 41% were women. Individuals with HL, compared to those without, were more likely to report increased social support for all eight questions on the survey (p < 0.01, with effect sizes ranging from 0.09 to 0.16 on a 5-point scale from 0 = “None of the time” to 4 = “All of the time”).

Conclusions: This study fails to provide evidence of HL as a risk factor for reduced social support. Surprisingly, individuals with HL were found to report increased social support, suggesting that individuals with HL may rely on and take greater stock in social supports than individuals without HL. Given that individuals with HL are often older and have a higher likelihood of possessing physical and mental comorbidities, further research should examine how audiometric results may vary with social resources and how hearing aid provision may affect social support access.