Association of Dual Sensory Impairment with Declining Physical Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

Few studies have investigated whether dual sensory impairment (DSI) adversely affects the deterioration of physical function in older adults compared to single sensory impairment (SSI, visual or auditory). We studied the association between DSI and declining physical function by analyzing the data of 2780 Korean community-dwelling adults aged 70–84 years. Sensory impairment was assessed through pure tone audiometry and visual acuity testing. Muscle strength (handgrip strength) and physical performance (timed up and go test and short physical performance battery (SPPB)) were evaluated. In the cross-sectional analysis, DSI was associated with higher odds of having low muscle strength (odds ratio (OR), 1.78; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.27–2.48) and poor physical performance (SPPB: OR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.38–3.00) than SSI. Among all sensory impairment groups in the longitudinal analysis, DSI at baseline increased the risk of deteriorating physical performance during the follow-up period (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.31–2.88; p < 0.01) the most. DSI showed a more severe adverse effect on the decline in physical function among community-dwelling older adults than SSI. More comprehensive care is needed to prevent the deterioration of physical function in older adults due to DSI.

A Consolidated Understanding of the Contribution of Redox Dysregulation in the Development of Hearing Impairment

“…Human perception is an essential biophysical construct of the neurological system, involving the initial detection of environmental stimuli with the sensory organs [1][2][3][4], processing of the spatially dispersed information received and presented as varying local field potentials in the primary sensory cortices [5,6], and the integration of signals within the thalamocortical circuits [7,8], aiding with the identification and interpretation of environmental sensory stimuli and to comprehend the world around an individual. As such, depending on the severity of the primary sensory deficits, individuals experience limitations in physical function [9,10] and neurocognitive changes [11][12][13], which lead to societal costs in the form of economic [14] and psychosocial impacts [15,16]. Of the sensory modalities present in humans, the loss of visual and auditory perception likely has the most significant impact on the overall well-being of an individual in the visual-and audio-dominated modern society [17].…”