Department of Psychiatry, Hirosaki-Aiseikai Hospital, Hirosaki, 036-8151, Japan.
Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2011 Oct 1;10(1):27. doi: 10.1186/1744-859X-10-27.
Hearing impairment is a prevalent and chronic condition in older people. This study investigated the relationship between cognitive function and hearing impairment in a Japanese population.
A pure-tone average (0.5-2.0 kHz) was used to evaluate hearing impairment in 846 participants of the Iwaki Health Promotion Project who were aged at least 50 years old (310 men and 536 women). We also administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression (CES-D) scale, Starkstein's apathy scale (AS) and the Short Form Health Survey Version 2 (SF-36v2). A multiple linear regression analysis assessed the association between hearing impairment and mental correlates.
The overall prevalence of hearing impairment in this study population was 37.7%. The participants with hearing impairment were older and less educated compared to those with no hearing problems. We observed significant differences in the MMSE and AS scores between the mild/moderate to severe groups versus the non-impaired group. After adjusting for age, gender and amount of education, hearing impairment was significantly associated with MMSE and AS scores, but not with CES-D scores. Hearing impairment was significantly related to the social functioning (SF) and role emotional (RE) scores of the SF-36v2.
Hearing impairment is common among older people and is associated with cognitive impairment, apathy and a poor health-related quality of life. Screening for and correcting hearing impairments might improve the quality of life and functional status of older patients.
听力障碍是老年人中普遍存在且慢性的疾病。本研究旨在调查日本人群中认知功能与听力障碍之间的关系。
在年龄至少 50 岁的 846 名磐城市健康促进项目参与者中，使用纯音平均值（0.5-2.0 kHz）评估听力障碍（310 名男性和 536 名女性）。我们还进行了简易精神状态检查（MMSE）、流行病学研究抑郁量表（CES-D）、Starkstein 的冷漠量表（AS）和健康调查简表 36 版本 2（SF-36v2）的评估。采用多元线性回归分析评估听力障碍与精神相关性之间的关联。
在本研究人群中，听力障碍的总体患病率为 37.7%。与无听力问题的参与者相比，听力障碍的参与者年龄更大，受教育程度更低。我们观察到 MMSE 和 AS 评分在轻度/中度至重度组与无损伤组之间存在显著差异。在校正年龄、性别和受教育程度后，听力障碍与 MMSE 和 AS 评分显著相关，但与 CES-D 评分无关。听力障碍与 SF-36v2 的社会功能（SF）和角色情感（RE）评分显著相关。
听力障碍在老年人中很常见，与认知障碍、冷漠和较差的健康相关生活质量相关。筛查和纠正听力障碍可能会提高老年患者的生活质量和功能状态。
