Study on the correlationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline among older adults in Beijing / 中华健康管理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To study the correlation between hearing loss and cognitive decline in community-dwelling older adults and to analyze the influencing factors.Methods:Using Pure-tone audiometry, the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, a survey was conducted with 492 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years and above in Beijing. Age, gender, education level, hearing loss, levels of anxiety and depression, and other factors were used as independent variables, and the MMSE scores were used as dependent variables. Analysis of variance and multiple linear regression were performed.Results:Among the 492 subjects, based on the better ears, 418 (85.0%) had hearing loss and 160 (32.5%) had disabled hearing loss. Factors such as age (β=-0.33, P<0.01), gender (β=0.09, P=0.04), education level (β=0.31, P<0.01), hearing loss (β=-0.11, P=0.02) and marital status (β=0.56, P=0.02) were significantly related to cognitive decline. Gender (β=-0.17, P<0.01) and hearing loss (β=0.08, P=0.02) correlated with anxiety indicators; gender (β=-0.84, P=0.02) and hearing loss (β=0.04, P=0.01) also correlated with depression indicators. Conclusion:Results indicated a correlation between hearing loss and cognitive decline, and between hearing loss and anxiety and depression among community-dwelling older adults in Beijing.