A novel study on association between untreated hearing loss and cognitive functions of older adults: Baseline non-verbal cognitive assessment results

Abstract

Background

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is highly prevalent in older adults and more than two-thirds above age 70 years suffer from ARHL. Recent studies have established a link between ARHL and cognitive impairment, however, most of the studies have used verbally loaded cognitive measures to investigate the association between ARHL and cognition. It is possible that due to hearing impairment, the elderly may experience difficulty in following verbal instructions or completing tasks that heavily rely on hearing during cognitive assessments. This may result in over-estimation of cognitive impairment in such individuals. This baseline cross-sectional study investigated the associations between untreated hearing loss and a number of cognitive functions using a battery of non-auditory cognitive tests. Further, association between hearing loss and psychological status of older adults was examined.

Study design

Prospective case-controlled study.

Methods

A total of 119 participants (54 males, M = 66.33 + 10.50 years; 65 females M = 61.51 + 11.46 years) were recruited. All participants completed a hearing assessment, a computerised test battery of non-auditory cognitive functions and the depression, anxiety and stress scale.

Results

Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results revealed that hearing thresholds significantly associated with the working memory (P<.05), paired associative learning scores (P<.05), depression (P <.001), and anxiety (P<.001) and stress (P<.001) scores. Analysis of covariance results revealed that participants with moderately-severe hearing loss performed significantly poorer in paired associative learning and working memory tasks and psychological function tests compared to those with normal hearing.

Conclusion

Results of the current study suggest a significant relationship between ARHL and both cognition and psychological status. Our results also have some implications for using non-verbal cognitive tests to evaluate cognitive functions in postlingually hearing impaired ageing adults, at least for those with more than moderately-severe levels of hearing loss.

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