In a new study published in BMC Research Notes, Japanese researchers found evidence to suggest a significant association between bilateral subclinical hearing loss and restorative sleep, reports Hearing Review.
Though researchers did find a significant association between early hearing impairment and restorative sleep in subjects with bilateral SHL at 4000 Hz independent of confounding factors like age and sex, they cautioned against inferring causality. For example, in a separate sub-analysis, performed without the prior age restriction, researchers did not see high rates of RS in the 70-79 age group with bilateral SHL at 4000 Hz, as might be expected. Recent research has linked age-related hearing loss (ARHL) with cognitive impairment and dementia, which may be related to longer sleep duration.
