The following are the most important diseases or complications that may be contributed to by hypacusis (hearing loss):
Circulatory system (I00-I99)
- Apoplexy (stroke) (if hearing loss is untreated).
- Myocardial infarction (heart attack) (in untreated hearing loss).
Ears – mastoid process (H60-H95).
- Progressive hearing loss
- Surditas (deafness)
Psyche – nervous system (F00-F99; G00-G99)
- Dementia
- Low-grade hearing loss (average hearing loss of 40 dB or less in the octave frequency range between 0.5-4 kHz): 1.8-fold risk
- Moderate hearing loss (maximum 70 dB PTA-4): 3-fold risk.
- Depression (in untreated hearing loss).
- Cognitive impairment (global perception, executive functions, episodic memory, word memory and spatial-visual perception, processing speed) and age-related hearing loss (ARHL) were significantly associated; odds ratios were 2.0 and 1.22 (cross-sectional and cohort studies, respectively); similar was generally true for dementia (OR 2.42 and 1.28, respectively)
- Social isolation
Symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings not elsewhere classified (R00-R99).
- Fractures (broken bones) (in untreated hearing loss).
- Tendency to fall (in untreated hearing loss).
Further
- Accidents on the road, at work and during leisure time; adults with
- “milder” hearing problems 60% more likely (prevalence: 4.1%) to be involved in accidents
- “moderate” hearing problems 70% more often (prevalence: 4.2%).
- “major” hearing problems 90% more often (prevalence: 4.8%).
Compared to individuals with self-rated “excellent” or “good” hearing.
- Increased mortality (death rate).
- In mild hearing impairment after matching against age (20%).
- With increased hearing threshold in old age (54%).
