ZURICH — Hearing aid use was associated with a 23% lower risk of dementia in adults with both hearing loss and epilepsy, according to findings presented by Dr. Carolina Ferreira-Atuesta at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2026. This reduction corresponded to an absolute risk reduction of 2.7 percentage points over five years.

Researchers from University Hospital Zurich and the University of Liverpool conducted an analysis of electronic health records from over 250 million patients within the TriNetX network. The study compared adults with hearing loss who used hearing aids against a matched group of adults who did not use them. The analysis included the general hearing-loss population, alongside individuals living with specific conditions such as epilepsy, stroke, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, migraine, and osteoarthritis.

No significant association was found between hearing aid use and dementia risk in the overall population with hearing loss. Similarly, no significant association was identified among individuals with stroke, migraine, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, or osteoarthritis. The risk reduction observed in the epilepsy group was equivalent to one fewer case of dementia for every 37 people using hearing aids.

"What surprised us most was how specific the finding was to epilepsy," Ferreira-Atuesta said. "We expected to see a small benefit across several of the higher-risk groups we studied. Instead, most showed no significant association, while the association in epilepsy was observed consistently across all of our analyses."

"Most people with hearing loss have enough cognitive reserve to absorb the extra effort caused by hearing impairment, so correcting it may not have a large effect on dementia risk," she said. "Epilepsy is different because cognitive reserve is often already reduced, meaning that removing one additional source of strain may have a greater impact."

The study was observational, meaning it cannot definitively prove that hearing aids directly reduce dementia risk. Ferreira-Atuesta noted that hearing loss is a modifiable risk factor for dementia. "Hearing loss is one of the few dementia risk factors we can actually do something about. It's easy to detect, and hearing aids are established, reversible and low-risk."