Elderly deafness program launched in Shanghai

A program for the prevention and control of elderly deafness and senile dementia was launched in Shanghai on Friday.

According to the World Health Organization, about a third of people over the age of 65 suffer from a reduction in hearing. This increases to 80 percent in people between 80 and 85. 

Yet only 6.5 percent of people with elderly deafness have received any kind of intervention in China. The condition has become a major health problem around the world. 

Research has found that elderly deafness is closely related to cognitive impairment. The incidence of dementia among people over 60 years of age with serious deafness is five times that of those with good hearing. The rate is three times for people with moderate deafness and two times for light deafness.

In China, about 16.7 percent of people with elderly deafness suffer from dementia, while the proportion is 10.8 percent among people whose hearing is good. 

The program is said to be the world’s first research on the effects of intervention in elderly people with light hearing loss. Experts will study the effects of hearing aids and artificial cochlea on cognitive function to look for measures and evidence to delay or treat cognitive disorder among people with elderly deafness and also improve intervention for deafness.

Detailed senile dementia prevention and control policies will also be worked out, according to Dr Wu Hao, president of Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, leader of the program.