Association of Age-Related Hearing Loss With Cognitive Function, Cognitive Impairment, and Dementia

Abstract

Dementia affects an estimated 46.8 million persons worldwide and is projected to affect approximately 131.5 million in 2050 with an estimated cost of US $818 billion in 2015 and US $2 trillion by 2050.¹ Current pharmaceutical approaches targeting neuropathologic processes such as Alzheimer disease (AD) offer limited benefit with symptom-modifying effects at best.² Switching to a preventive strategy through reduction of risk factors may be more beneficial than pharmacologic therapy after clinical expression of neuropathologic changes³ and may lead to significant reductions in medical costs.⁴