Objective
To investigate whether hearing difficulties exacerbate the damaging effects of enforced social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic on isolation and loneliness, and lead to accelerated mental health issues and cognitive dysfunction.
Design
Rapid online survey. Participants completed a series of online questionnaires regarding hearing ability, socialisation (pre- and during-pandemic), loneliness, anxiety, depression and cognitive function.
Study sample
A total of 80 participants over the age of 70 with access to the internet.
Results
There was a significant reduction in socialisation levels from pre-pandemic in this population. Hearing difficulties were significantly associated with greater levels of loneliness, depression and self-perceived cognitive dysfunction after controlling for age, gender, and level of education. Additionally, compared to pre-pandemic, people with hearing difficulties had increased odds of reporting worsened anxiety, depression, and memory during the COVID-19 pandemic, although only the effect of hearing difficulties on the change in memory reached statistical significance after controlling for age, gender, and level of education.
Conclusions
The worse the self-reported hearing abilities are, the greater the negative impact of enforced social distancing on depression, loneliness and cognitive function.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Audiology on 15th March 2021, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14992027.2021.1894492