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.
AU - Health ABC study
N1 - Funding sources contributed to design and conduct of the study, management and analysis of the data, as well as the preparation and review of the manuscript. Dr Frank Lin reports being a consultant to Cochlear, serving on the scientific advisory board for Autifony and Pfizer, and being a speaker for Med El and Amplifon. Dr Sheila Pratt was supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA. However, the contents of this manuscript do not represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.
PY - 2015/5
Y1 - 2015/5
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 - Physical function
KW - Physical performance
KW - Epidemiology
KW - LOWER-EXTREMITY FUNCTION
KW - GAIT SPEED DECLINE
KW - PERFORMANCE BATTERY
KW - BODY-COMPOSITION
KW - UNITED-STATES
KW - SUBSEQUENT DISABILITY
KW - VESTIBULAR FUNCTION
KW - PROGNOSTIC VALUE
KW - HEALTH
KW - SURVIVAL
U2 - 10.1093/gerona/glu207
DO - 10.1093/gerona/glu207
M3 - Article
VL - 70
SP - 654
EP - 661
JO - The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
JF - The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
SN - 1079-5006
IS - 5
ER -