The impact of untreated hearing loss on depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness in tonal language-speaking older adults in China

Age-related hearing loss, mental health conditions, and loneliness commonly affect older adults. This study aimed to determine whether untreated hearing loss is independently associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness in tonal language-speaking older adults in China. Observational, cross-sectional study. 293 older adults (111 males, = 70.33 ± 4.90 years; 182 females, = 69.02 ± 4.08 years) were recruited. All participants completed a pure tone audiometric hearing assessment, and provided information on living arrangements, marital status, leisure activities, tobacco and alcohol use, and medical history. The Mandarin version of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale was used to measure loneliness, and the Mandarin version of the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to assess a range of symptoms common to depression, stress, and anxiety of the participants. The analysis focused on determining the predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress, and the predictors of measures of loneliness. Multiple stepwise regression analyses revealed that the emotional loneliness ( = 0.303