Cochlear implants are associated with reduced cognitive decline risk: A 20-year cohort study.

INTRODUCTION

We investigated the association between cochlear implantation and the risk of cognitive decline in adults with hearing loss using a national population cohort.

METHODS

Our cohort comprised 4106 participants who underwent cochlear implantation and matched controls with untreated hearing loss, followed over a median of 7.3 years. Propensity score matching was applied to control for confounders, and Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess time-to-event outcomes.

RESULTS

Participants with cochlear implants had a significantly reduced risk of all-cause dementia (hazard ratio [HR] 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.50-0.74), mild cognitive impairment (HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.40-0.70), and memory loss (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.45-0.65) compared with controls. These associations remained significant in sex-stratified analyses for both male and female participants.

DISCUSSION: These results support early auditory intervention as a dementia prevention strategy and warrant further research with longer follow-up periods across diverse populations.