Hearing aids can help people with hearing loss live longer, a study suggests.
US researchers found that people with hearing loss were 24 percent less likely to die prematurely if they wore the device regularly, compared to those who never wore it.
The team said the 'exciting' results, based on a study of around 10,000 people, suggest hearing aids can protect health and extend life.
Experts believe that the effect is due to the fact that hearing aids reduce the risk of cognitive decline and promote physical, social and mental well-being.
US researchers found that people with hearing loss were 24 percent less likely to die prematurely if they wore the device regularly, compared to those who never wore it
Previous studies have suggested that untreated hearing loss is linked to a shorter lifespan.
But until now, very little research has been done on whether hearing aids can reduce the risk of death.
Dr. Janet Choi, lead author and ear, nose and throat surgeon at the University of Southern California Keck School Medicine, said: 'We found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 24 percent lower risk of death than those who wore them. never wore.
'These results are exciting because they suggest that hearing aids can play a protective role in people's health and prevent premature death.'
Around 12 million adults in Britain are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus, according to the hearing loss charity Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID).
It is estimated that seven million Britons could benefit from hearing aids, but only two million use them.
In the US, approximately 37.5 million adults have hearing problems.
The researchers studied nearly 10,000 adults over the age of 20 who had undergone a hearing evaluation between 1999 and 2012. They were followed for ten years.
The data, collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, included responses about hearing aid use.
The results showed that 1,863 adults had hearing loss.
Of these, 237 reported using hearing aids regularly, which was classified as at least once a week, five hours a week, or half the time.
But 1,483 people never used the devices.
People who reported wearing the devices less than once a month or less often were categorized as non-regular users.
Analysis of the statistics showed that those who had hearing loss but never wore hearing aids were 24 percent more likely to die during the study compared to people who regularly wore hearing aids.
The findings still applied regardless of the participants' degree of hearing loss, age, ethnicity, income, education or medical history.
There was no difference in the risk of death between non-regular users and never users, suggesting that occasional use of hearing aids may not provide any life-extending benefit.
The researchers hope the findings, published in the journal The Lancet Healthy Longevity, will encourage more people to wear hearing aids.
But they noted that factors such as stigma and the difficulty of finding devices that fit and function properly pose barriers to their use.
Crystal Rolfe, director of healthcare at RNID, said: 'Hearing aids provide huge benefits for people with hearing loss.
'Research shows that wearing hearing aids can reduce the risk of cognitive decline, and they are well known to have positive effects on physical, social, emotional and mental well-being.
'Now it's possible that hearing aids could even help people with hearing loss live longer, and we would welcome more research to understand the link.
'If you think you may have hearing loss, make checking your hearing your New Year's resolution; the benefits can be endless.”