A scoping review of studies investigating hearing loss, social isolation and/or loneliness in adults.

Bott, Anthea; Saunders, Gabrielle

OBJECTIVES Social isolation and loneliness are interrelated but independent constructs that threaten healthy aging and well-being and are thought to be associated with hearing loss. Our aim was to review the empirical studies that have examined the association between hearing loss and social isolation and/or loneliness to highlight future research needs. DESIGN Scoping review. STUDY SAMPLE Three electronic databases were searched combining key terms of "hearing loss", "hearing impairment" and "deaf*" with "social isolation" or "loneliness", yielding an initial result of 939 articles. After removing duplicate articles, abstract screening and full-text review, 57 original articles met our inclusion criteria. RESULTS Studies were diverse in terms of methodology with the most common type of study being studies that have explored the relationship between hearing loss and social isolation/loneliness from large population-based datasets. Only eight studies were intervention studies and of these, only one specifically explored the outcomes of hearing aids (HAs) on social isolation/loneliness. CONCLUSIONS Further research is warranted to examine the influence that hearing interventions, in particular HAs, have on social isolation and/or loneliness, with a specific need to include people who identify as being socially isolated and/or lonely at baseline.