Jayakody D M P, Friedland P L, Eikelboom R H, Martins R N, Sohrabi H R
Ear Science Institute Australia, Subiaco, WA, Australia.
Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
Clin Otolaryngol. 2018 Feb;43(1):182-191. doi: 10.1111/coa.12937. Epub 2017 Aug 1.
Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is highly prevalent in older adults, and more than two-thirds above age of 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 overestimation 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-verbal cognitive tests. Further, association between hearing loss and psychological status of older adults was examined.
Prospective case-controlled study.
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-verbal cognitive functions and the depression, anxiety and stress scale.
Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results revealed that hearing thresholds significantly associated with the working memory (P<0.05), paired associative learning scores (P<0.05), depression (P<0.001), and anxiety (P<0.001) and stress (P<0.001) 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.
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 post-lingually hearing impaired ageing adults, at least for those with more than moderately-severe levels of hearing loss.
年龄相关性听力损失（ARHL）在老年人中非常普遍，70岁以上的老年人中有超过三分之二患有ARHL。最近的研究已经证实了ARHL与认知障碍之间的联系；然而，大多数研究使用了语言负荷较重的认知测量方法来研究ARHL与认知之间的关联。由于听力障碍，老年人在认知评估过程中可能难以遵循口头指示或完成严重依赖听力的任务。这可能导致对这些个体的认知障碍估计过高。这项基线横断面研究使用一系列非语言认知测试调查了未经治疗的听力损失与多种认知功能之间的关联。此外，还研究了听力损失与老年人心理状态之间的关联。
前瞻性病例对照研究。
共招募了119名参与者（54名男性，平均年龄M = 66.33±10.50岁；65名女性，平均年龄M = 61.51±11.46岁）。所有参与者都完成了听力评估、非语言认知功能的计算机化测试组以及抑郁、焦虑和压力量表测试。
分层多元回归分析结果显示，听力阈值与工作记忆（P < 0.05）、配对联想学习分数（P < 0.05）、抑郁（P < 0.001）、焦虑（P < 0.001）和压力（P < 0.001）分数显著相关。协方差分析结果显示，与听力正常的参与者相比，中度至重度听力损失的参与者在配对联想学习、工作记忆任务和心理功能测试中的表现明显较差。
本研究结果表明ARHL与认知和心理状态之间存在显著关系。我们的研究结果对于使用非语言认知测试来评估语后听力受损的老年人的认知功能也具有一定意义，至少对于那些听力损失超过中度至重度水平的老年人来说是如此。
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