TY - JOUR
T1 - Visual and hearing impairments are associated with cognitive decline in older people
AU - Maharani, Asri
AU - Dawes, Piers
AU - Nazroo, James
AU - Tampubolon, Gindo
AU - Pendleton, Neil
AU - SENSE-Cog WP1 group
AU - Bertelsen, Geir
AU - Cosh, Suzanne
AU - Cougnard-Grégoire, Audrey
AU - Delcourt, Cécile
AU - Constantinidou, Fofi
AU - Helmer, Catherine
AU - Ikram, M. Arfan
AU - Klaver, Caroline C. W.
AU - Leroi, Iracema
AU - Meester-Smor, Magda
AU - Mutlu, Unal
AU - Naël, Virginie
AU - Schirmer, Henrik
AU - Tiemeier, Henning
AU - von Hanno, Therese
PY - 2018/7
Y1 - 2018/7
N2 - Introduction: highly prevalagent hearing and vision sensory impairments among older people may contribute to the risk of cognitive decline and pathological impairments including dementia. This study aims to determine whether single and dual sensory impairment (hearing and/or vision) are independently associated with cognitive decline among older adults and to describe cognitive trajectories according to their impairment pattern. Material and methods: we used data from totals of 13,123, 11,417 and 21,265 respondents aged 50+ at baseline from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), respectively. We performed growth curve analysis to identify cognitive trajectories, and a joint model was used to deal with attrition problems in longitudinal ageing surveys. Results: respondents with a single sensory impairment had lower episodic memory score than those without sensory impairment in HRS (β = −0.15, P < 0.001), ELSA (β = −0.14, P < 0.001) and SHARE (β = −0.26, P < 0.001). The analysis further shows that older adults with dual sensory impairment in HRS (β = −0.25, P < 0.001), ELSA (β = −0.35, P < 0.001) and SHARE (β = −0.68, P < 0.001) remembered fewer words compared with those with no sensory impairment. The stronger associations between sensory impairment and lower episodic memory levels were found in the joint model which accounted for attrition. Conclusions: hearing and/or vision impairments are a marker for the risk of cognitive decline that could inform preventative interventions to maximise cognitive health and longevity. Further studies are needed to investigate how sensory markers could inform strategies to improve cognitive ageing.
AB - Introduction: highly prevalagent hearing and vision sensory impairments among older people may contribute to the risk of cognitive decline and pathological impairments including dementia. This study aims to determine whether single and dual sensory impairment (hearing and/or vision) are independently associated with cognitive decline among older adults and to describe cognitive trajectories according to their impairment pattern. Material and methods: we used data from totals of 13,123, 11,417 and 21,265 respondents aged 50+ at baseline from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), respectively. We performed growth curve analysis to identify cognitive trajectories, and a joint model was used to deal with attrition problems in longitudinal ageing surveys. Results: respondents with a single sensory impairment had lower episodic memory score than those without sensory impairment in HRS (β = −0.15, P < 0.001), ELSA (β = −0.14, P < 0.001) and SHARE (β = −0.26, P < 0.001). The analysis further shows that older adults with dual sensory impairment in HRS (β = −0.25, P < 0.001), ELSA (β = −0.35, P < 0.001) and SHARE (β = −0.68, P < 0.001) remembered fewer words compared with those with no sensory impairment. The stronger associations between sensory impairment and lower episodic memory levels were found in the joint model which accounted for attrition. Conclusions: hearing and/or vision impairments are a marker for the risk of cognitive decline that could inform preventative interventions to maximise cognitive health and longevity. Further studies are needed to investigate how sensory markers could inform strategies to improve cognitive ageing.
KW - cognitive ageing
KW - longitudinal analysis
KW - older people
KW - sensory impairment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054538594&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/ageing/afy061
DO - 10.1093/ageing/afy061
M3 - Article
C2 - 29697748
AN - SCOPUS:85054538594
SN - 0002-0729
VL - 47
SP - 575
EP - 581
JO - Age and Ageing
JF - Age and Ageing
IS - 4
ER -