Hearing Impairment and Cognitive Decline in Older, Community-Dwelling Adults

Al-Attar, Ali; Bergstrom, Jaclyn; Laughlin, Gail A.; Kritz‐Silverstein, Donna; Richard, Erin; Reas, Emilie T.; Harris, Jeffrey P.; Barrett‐Connor, Elizabeth; McEvoy, Linda K.

doi:10.1093/gerona/glz035

Cited by 66 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Variability in test-specific decline may also be explained by diseases and common comorbidities in these older adults, such as cardiovascular diseases, depression, respiratory diseases, cancer, or impairments in sensory organs ( 54–57 ). These may differentially influence cognitive compared to motor function in some individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trajectories of Cognitive and Motor Function Between Ages 45 and 90 Years: A Population-Based Study

Willik

Licher

Vinke

et al. 2020

The Journals of Gerontology: Series A

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Background To establish trajectories of cognitive and motor function, and to determine the sequence of change across individual tests in community-dwelling individuals aged 45-90 years. Methods Between 1997-2016, we repeatedly assessed cognitive function with five tests in 9,514 participants aged 45-90 years from the population-based Rotterdam Study. Between 1999-2016, we measured motor function with three tests in 8,297 participants. All participants were free from dementia, stroke, and parkinsonism. We assessed overall and education-specific cognitive and motor trajectories using linear mixed models with age as time scale. Next, we determined the sequence of change across individual tests. Results The number of assessments per participant ranged between 1-6 (mean interval, years[SD]: 5.1[1.4]) for cognitive function, and 1-4 (5.4[1.4]) for motor function. Cognitive and motor trajectories declined linearly between ages 45-65 years, followed by steeper declines after ages 65-70 years. Lower educated participants had lower cognitive function at age 45 years (baseline), and declined faster on most cognitive, but not on motor tests than higher educated participants. Up to a 25-year age difference between the fastest and slowest declining test scores was observed. Conclusions On a population-level, cognitive and motor function decline similarly. Compared to higher educated individuals, lower educated individuals had lower cognitive function at baseline, and a faster rate of decline thereafter. These educational-effects were not seen for motor function. These findings benefit the understanding of the natural course of cognitive and motor function during aging, and highlight the role of education in the preservation of cognitive but not motor function

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trajectories of Cognitive and Motor Function Between Ages 45 and 90 Years: A Population-Based Study

Willik

Licher

Vinke

et al. 2020

The Journals of Gerontology: Series A

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“…Consistent with existing literature, we identified associations between hearing impairment and cognition. The present study sampled a relatively young (average age, 56 years) cohort, suggesting that mild hearing impairment (>25 dB) is associated with cognition prior to older adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…However, it is unclear if these early patterns are specific to Hispanic or Latino participants. Among a predominantly White sample, mild hearing impairment was only associated with faster rate of decline, not baseline cognitive performance, across a range of tasks. Others have detected poorer cognitive performance with moderate-to-severe, but not mild, hearing impairment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Hearing Sensitivity, Cardiovascular Risk, and Neurocognitive Function

Stickel

Tarraf

Bainbridge

et al. 2021

JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg

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Key Points Question Is hearing impairment associated with cardiovascular disease risk and cognitive function among Hispanic or Latino participants? Findings In this cohort study of 9623 Hispanic/Latino adults, hearing impairment was associated with poorer cognitive performance on all tasks, and cardiovascular disease risk did not attenuate these relationships. Rather, hearing impairment modified the associations between cardiovascular disease risk and learning and memory; only among individuals with hearing impairment, being identified as having excessively high glucose was associated with poorer learning and memory relative to participants considered healthy individuals. Meaning Hearing impairment may exacerbate the associations between high glucose and poorer cognition, particularly for learning and memory among Hispanic or Latino persons.

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“…Subjects with a severe hearing loss are twice as likely to experience cognitive decline by the MMSE than elderly with only a mild hearing impairment over a period of 24 years. 22 Nowadays, hearing loss is considered to be one of twelve modifiable risk factors in the development of dementia. 23 Because of the high prevalence of hearing impairment in the elderly subjects, its treatment in the middle age has a large impact on the prevention or delay of dementia in up to 8% of the population.…”

Section: Consequences Of Hearing Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subjects with a severe hearing loss are twice as likely to experience cognitive decline by the MMSE than elderly with only a mild hearing impairment over a period of 24 years. 22 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%