VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on hearing assistance, prediabetes and the flu

VA’s Office of Research and Development recently published three News Briefs highlighting a program to help hard-of-hearing Veterans receive care, a diet beneficial for older men with prediabetes and treating the flu.

New hearing-assist program helps Veterans at ER

VA researchers created a hearing assistive program at the Los Angeles VA Medical Center emergency department to improve care for hard-of-hearing Veterans.

The Veterans were provided a personal voice amplification device to help them hear doctors and nurses in the high-noise environment. During an initial pilot phase and a scale-up phase, in which the program was expanded department-wide, both staff and Veterans viewed the program as feasible and valuable. Of Veterans who responded to a survey about the program, 89% said having the device was helpful. Notably, 26% of Veterans who identified as hard-of-hearing or were identified as hard-of-hearing by staff observation and were provided with the assistance device had no prior hearing loss diagnosis.

The results show providing assistive hearing devices in the emergency department can improve Veterans’ access to and quality of care.

View the full study from the “Disability and Health Journal.”

High protein diet may help prediabetic older men lose weight

Weight loss can improve health and function in older adults with obesity but can also lead to loss of muscle and other non-fat mass. A Durham VA study showed adding more protein to the diet can improve the physical function and body composition of older men with prediabetes.

Veterans over 55 with obesity and prediabetes received either a standard nutrition program aimed at losing weight or an enhanced program with double the protein intake. Both programs included nutrition classes and an exercise regimen. After three months, Veterans in the enhanced protein group had greater weight loss and better performance on measures of physical function, which persisted after six months. The enhanced protein group also showed more preserved fat-free mass after six months.

The results suggest an enhanced protein diet during an obesity reduction regimen can benefit older men with prediabetes.

View the full study from “Current Developments in Nutrition.”

Antiviral flu medication slightly reduces hospitalization

Researchers from VA Connecticut and their colleagues demonstrated treatment with the antiviral medication oseltamivir (sold commercially as Tamiflu) reduced the risk of hospitalization from the flu by 3.2%. The benefit was greatest in patients over 65, who had a 5.2% lower risk of hospitalization in the 10 days after flu diagnosis, and those who received oseltamivir within three hours of flu diagnosis, who had a 5.8% lower risk of hospitalization.

The study included nearly 29,000 Veterans diagnosed with the flu in VA emergency departments during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 flu seasons. This is one of the first studies to show antiviral medication can reduce hospitalization from the flu.

View the full study from “Open Forum Infectious Diseases.”

For more Office of Research and Development updates, visit ORD online or go to https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/.