Objective Social isolation and loneliness are associated with increased mortality and higher health care spending in older adults. Hearing loss is a common condition in older adults and impairs communication and social interactions. The objective of this review is to summarize the current state of the literature exploring the association between hearing loss and social isolation and/or loneliness. Data Sources PubMed, Embase, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library. Review Methods Articles were screened for inclusion by 2 independent reviewers, with a third reviewer for adjudication. English-language studies of older adults with hearing loss that used a validated measure of social isolation or loneliness were included. A modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the studies included in the review. Results Of the 2495 identified studies, 14 were included in the review. Most of the studies (12/14) were cross-sectional. Despite the heterogeneity of assessment methods for hearing status (self-report or objective audiometry), loneliness, and social isolation, most multivariable-adjusted studies found that hearing loss was associated with higher risk of loneliness and social isolation. Several studies found an effect modification of gender such that among women, hearing loss was more strongly associated with loneliness and social isolation than among men. Conclusions Our findings that hearing loss is associated with loneliness and social isolation have important implications for the cognitive and psychosocial health of older adults. Future studies should investigate whether treating hearing loss can decrease loneliness and social isolation in older adults.
Dementia and psychiatric disorders are common in AL and have suboptimal rates of recognition and treatment. This may contribute to morbidity and interfere with the ability of residents to age in place.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms impair quality of life in residents with dementia. Further research should investigate the role of other environmental aspects.
Age-related hearing loss is a highly prevalent chronic condition in older adults, but hearing loss is rarely accounted for in patient-provider communication studies. This systematic review synthesizes current evidence on the impact of age-related hearing loss on patient-provider communication in hospitalized older adults. Five databases were queried to identify original research that examined patient-provider communication in older adults with hearing loss in an inpatient setting. Of 1053 studies, 13 were included in the final review. All studies reported an adverse effect of hearing loss on patient-provider communication. Among studies that evaluated an intervention to improve communication in older adults with hearing loss, simple interventions such as low-cost voice amplifiers were found to improve communication. An understanding of the effect of hearing loss on patient-provider communication and strategies to mitigate the impact are needed in order to provide safe, quality, patient-centered care to older adults with hearing loss.
Executive dysfunction, apraxia, memory impairment, depression, and general medical health are all significant predictors of functional impairment in assisted living residents, with executive dysfunction being the strongest. These results may be instrumental in developing a more efficient model of care for residents of assisted living facilities, one based on having accurate predictive models of degree of impairment.
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