TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of Hearing Impairment with Declines in Physical Functioning and the Risk of Disability in Older Adults
AU - Chen, David S.
AU - Betz, Joshua
AU - Yaffe, Kristine
AU - Ayonayon, Hilsa N.
AU - Kritchevsky, Stephen
AU - Martin, Kathryn R.
AU - Harris, Tamara B.
AU - Purchase-Helzner, Elizabeth
AU - Satterfield, Suzanne
AU - Xue, Qian Li
AU - Pratt, Sheila
AU - Simonsick, Eleanor M.
AU - Lin, Frank R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].
PY - 2015/5/1
Y1 - 2015/5/1
N2 - Background: Identifying factors associated with functional declines in older adults is important given the aging of the population. We investigated if hearing impairment is independently associated with objectively measured declines in physical functioning in a community-based sample of older adults. Methods: Prospective observational study of 2,190 individuals from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. Participants were followed annually for up to 11 visits. Hearing was measured with pure-tone audiometry. Physical functioning and gait speed were measured with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Incident disability and requirement for nursing care were assessed semiannually through self-report. Results: In a mixed-effects model, greater hearing impairment was associated with poorer physical functioning. At both Visit 1 and Visit 11, SPPB scores were lower in individuals with mild (10.14 [95% CI 10.04-10.25], p <. 01; 7.35 [95% CI 7.12-7.58], p <. 05) and moderate or greater hearing impairment (10.04 [95% CI 9.90-10.19], p <. 01; 7.00 [95% CI 6.69-7.32], p <. 01) than scores in normal hearing individuals (10.36 [95% CI 10.26-10.46]; 7.71 [95% CI 7.49-7.92]). We observed that women with moderate or greater hearing impairment had a 31% increased risk of incident disability (Hazard ratio [HR] =1.31 [95% CI 1.08-1.60], p <. 01) and a 31% increased risk of incident nursing care requirement (HR = 1.31 [95% CI 1.05-1.62], p =. 02) compared to women with normal hearing. Conclusions: Hearing impairment is independently associated with poorer objective physical functioning in older adults, and a 31% increased risk for incident disability and need for nursing care in women.
AB - Background: Identifying factors associated with functional declines in older adults is important given the aging of the population. We investigated if hearing impairment is independently associated with objectively measured declines in physical functioning in a community-based sample of older adults. Methods: Prospective observational study of 2,190 individuals from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. Participants were followed annually for up to 11 visits. Hearing was measured with pure-tone audiometry. Physical functioning and gait speed were measured with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Incident disability and requirement for nursing care were assessed semiannually through self-report. Results: In a mixed-effects model, greater hearing impairment was associated with poorer physical functioning. At both Visit 1 and Visit 11, SPPB scores were lower in individuals with mild (10.14 [95% CI 10.04-10.25], p <. 01; 7.35 [95% CI 7.12-7.58], p <. 05) and moderate or greater hearing impairment (10.04 [95% CI 9.90-10.19], p <. 01; 7.00 [95% CI 6.69-7.32], p <. 01) than scores in normal hearing individuals (10.36 [95% CI 10.26-10.46]; 7.71 [95% CI 7.49-7.92]). We observed that women with moderate or greater hearing impairment had a 31% increased risk of incident disability (Hazard ratio [HR] =1.31 [95% CI 1.08-1.60], p <. 01) and a 31% increased risk of incident nursing care requirement (HR = 1.31 [95% CI 1.05-1.62], p =. 02) compared to women with normal hearing. Conclusions: Hearing impairment is independently associated with poorer objective physical functioning in older adults, and a 31% increased risk for incident disability and need for nursing care in women.
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Physical function
KW - Physical performance
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U2 - 10.1093/gerona/glu207
DO - 10.1093/gerona/glu207
M3 - Article
C2 - 25477427
AN - SCOPUS:84936937455
SN - 1079-5006
VL - 70
SP - 654
EP - 661
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
IS - 5
ER -