The Vancouver Sun featured work by UBCO surgery researchers which focused on how hearing loss impacts the lives of seniors.
Researchers found that for every 10-decibel drop in hearing sensitivity, the odds of social isolation went up by 52 per cent.
“Hearing loss is often not thought of as a public health issue and as a result there is often not a lot of health care resources that have been put toward testing and hearing support,” said Paul Mick, a physician and clinical professor at UBCO’s Southern Medical Program. “As social isolation has been shown to have similar impacts on mortality rates as smoking and alcohol consumption, this is something we should examine further at both the system and individual patient level.”
