Background: Hearing loss in older adults is suspected to play a role in social isolation, depression, disability, lower quality of life, and risk of dementia. Such suspected associations still need to be consolidated with additional research. With a particularly long follow-up, this study assessed the relationship between hearing status and four major adverse health events: death, dementia, depression, and disability. Methods: Prospective community-based study of 3,777 participants aged ≥65 followed up for 25 years. At baseline, 1,289 reported hearing problems and 2,290 reported no trouble. The risk of occurrence of the negative outcomes, including death, dementia, depressive symptoms, disability in activities of daily living (ADL), and instrumental ADL (IADL), was assessed with Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Adjusting for numerous confounders, an increased risk of disability and dementia was found for participants reporting hearing problems. An increased risk of depression was found in men reporting hearing problems. In additional exploratory analyses, such associations were not found in those participants using hearing aids. Mortality was not associated with self-reported hearing loss. Conclusions: Our study confirms the strong link between hearing status and the risk of disability, dementia, and depression. These results highlight the importance of assessing the consequences of treating hearing loss in elders in further studies.
Background: Hearing loss in older adults is suspected to play a role in social isolation, depression, disability, lower quality of life, and risk of dementia. Such suspected associations still need to be consolidated with additional research. With a particularly long follow-up, this study assessed the relationship between hearing status and four major adverse health events: death, dementia, depression, and disability. Methods: Prospective community-based study of 3,777 participants aged ≥65 followed up for 25 years. At baseline, 1,289 reported hearing problems and 2,290 reported no trouble. The risk of occurrence of the negative outcomes, including death, dementia, depressive symptoms, disability in activities of daily living (ADL), and instrumental ADL (IADL), was assessed with Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Adjusting for numerous confounders, an increased risk of disability and dementia was found for participants reporting hearing problems. An increased risk of depression was found in men reporting hearing problems. In additional exploratory analyses, such associations were not found in those participants using hearing aids. Mortality was not associated with self-reported hearing loss. Conclusions: Our study confirms the strong link between hearing status and the risk of disability, dementia, and depression. These results highlight the importance of assessing the consequences of treating hearing loss in elders in further studies.
Authors: Jan Löhler; Mario Cebulla; Wafaa Shehata-Dieler; Stefan Volkenstein; Christiane Völter; Leif Erik Walther Journal: Dtsch Arztebl Int Date: 2019-04-26 Impact factor: 5.594
Authors: Frances Rapport; Sarah E Hughes; Isabelle Boisvert; Catherine M McMahon; Jeffrey Braithwaite; Mona Faris; Mia Bierbaum Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2020-05-24 Impact factor: 2.655
Authors: Gill Livingston; Jonathan Huntley; Andrew Sommerlad; David Ames; Clive Ballard; Sube Banerjee; Carol Brayne; Alistair Burns; Jiska Cohen-Mansfield; Claudia Cooper; Sergi G Costafreda; Amit Dias; Nick Fox; Laura N Gitlin; Robert Howard; Helen C Kales; Mika Kivimäki; Eric B Larson; Adesola Ogunniyi; Vasiliki Orgeta; Karen Ritchie; Kenneth Rockwood; Elizabeth L Sampson; Quincy Samus; Lon S Schneider; Geir Selbæk; Linda Teri; Naaheed Mukadam Journal: Lancet Date: 2020-07-30 Impact factor: 79.321