Summary: A large cohort study that followed nearly 491,000 people for about 12 years found a clear, independent association between loneliness and a higher risk of developing hearing loss. After adjusting for genetic risk, existing health conditions, medications, and lifestyle factors, people who reported feeling lonely had about a 24% greater chance of being diagnosed with hearing loss, with the strongest effect observed for sensorineural hearing loss.
The researchers suggest that chronic stress and related physiological changes—such as inflammation, altered blood pressure, and neuroendocrine responses—may help explain how loneliness contributes to hearing decline. The association was more pronounced in women and remained consistent across multiple analytical approaches and sensitivity checks.
Key points
- Independent risk: Loneliness was associated with a 24% higher risk of incident hearing loss, even after controlling for genetic predisposition and a wide range of confounders.
- Sensorineural emphasis: The effect was strongest for sensorineural hearing loss, which is typically linked to damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve.
- Sex differences: The link between loneliness and hearing loss appeared stronger in women than in men.
Source: Health Data Science
Overview of the study
An international research team from Tianjin University, Shenyang Medical College, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong analyzed data from the UK Biobank to examine whether loneliness contributes to the development of hearing loss. Their results, published in Health Data Science on May 2, 2025, provide strong evidence that loneliness is a meaningful, independent predictor of incident hearing loss.
Hearing loss affects more than 1.5 billion people worldwide and is a leading cause of disability and social impairment. While biological and behavioral risk factors for hearing decline are well established, psychosocial contributors such as loneliness have received less attention. This study addresses that gap by treating loneliness as a potential cause rather than merely a consequence of hearing deterioration.
Researchers followed 490,865 UK Biobank participants for a median of 12.3 years. Loneliness was assessed at baseline with a single self-report item asking whether participants often felt lonely. Incident hearing loss was identified through linked electronic health records, using diagnoses recorded during follow-up.
During follow-up, 11,596 participants received a new diagnosis of hearing loss. In unadjusted models, loneliness was associated with a 36% higher hazard of incident hearing loss. After comprehensive adjustment for age, sex, socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors, chronic diseases, use of ototoxic medications, social isolation, depression, and genetic risk scores for hearing loss, the association persisted with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.24 (95% CI, 1.17–1.31).
The research team also performed joint analyses combining loneliness and genetic risk levels. Loneliness increased the risk of incident hearing loss across all genetic risk strata, indicating that loneliness operates via mechanisms that are at least partly distinct from inherited susceptibility.
Lead author Yunlong Song, from the Institute of Applied Psychology at Tianjin University, commented that the findings point to a potentially harmful feedback loop in which loneliness and hearing loss may reinforce one another. Co-author Bin Yu emphasized the need to explore the behavioral, psychological, and physiological pathways that could translate loneliness into auditory decline and to test whether interventions that reduce loneliness can help prevent hearing loss.
About this research
Author: Yu Yang
Source: Health Data Science
Contact: Yu Yang – Health Data Science
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access. Title: “Loneliness and Risk of Incident Hearing Loss: The UK Biobank Study” by Yunlong Song et al., published in Health Data Science.
Abstract (summary)
Background: Hearing loss (HL) is a major cause of disability that can lead to social and functional impairments. The prospective relationship between loneliness and new-onset HL has been unclear. This study examined whether baseline loneliness predicts incident HL in a large UK adult cohort.
Methods: Using UK Biobank data, loneliness was assessed by a single-item question about frequently feeling lonely. Incident HL diagnoses were captured through linked electronic health records. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the association between loneliness and risk of incident HL, with stepwise adjustments for demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, medical, and genetic factors.
Results: The analysis included 490,865 participants (mean age 56.5 years; 54.4% female); 90,893 (18.5%) reported loneliness at baseline. Over a median 12.3 years of follow-up, 11,596 participants developed hearing loss. Loneliness was associated with higher HL risk in unadjusted models (HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.30–1.43) and remained significant after full adjustment (HR 1.24, 95% CI 1.17–1.31). The relationship held across genetic risk categories and was particularly evident for sensorineural HL and among women.
Conclusions: Loneliness appears to be an independent risk factor for incident hearing loss. These findings support further research into mechanisms linking psychosocial stressors and auditory health and suggest that social support and loneliness-reduction strategies could be considered in hearing loss prevention efforts.