Study to investigate Indigenous hearing health

Professors Leon Flicker and Dawn Bessarab, from UWA Medical School, and Dr Dona Jayakody, from Ear Science Institute Australia and RPH Research Foundation Career Advancement Fellow, were awarded $2.1 million under the Medical Research Future Fund Indigenous Health Research Grant scheme in October 2023.

Dr Jayakody and Professor Flicker have received funds to investigate the hearing health of older Indigenous adults.

Hearing loss is the second highest cause of disability globally, affecting 1.33 billion people and 90 per cent of cases are age-related hearing loss.

“Studies suggest older Indigenous people have higher levels of hearing loss compared with non-Indigenous Australians,” Dr Jayakody said.

“The study will also look at the impact on mental health, social isolation, quality of life, loneliness and cognitive functions in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2018-19 report found that 34 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 55 years and over reported hearing problems and 82 per cent were found to have hearing loss after they were tested.

“It is plausible that the high rates of hearing loss in Indigenous peoples are due, in part, to early childhood hearing impediments interacting with the effects of ageing,” Professor Flicker said.

This will be the first study to investigate how untreated hearing loss could increase the risk of mental-health issues and dementia in the Indigenous population.

“Untreated hearing loss has been linked to higher rates of mental-health issues in non-Indigenous Australians,” Dr Jayakody said.

“Older Indigenous adults have been shown to experience higher rates of mental-health conditions, psychological distress and dementia than the general Australian population,”

The study will examine whether access to hearing services for older Indigenous adults are accessible and provided in a culturally sensitive manner.