Department of Surgical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 16;19(10):e0310299. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310299. eCollection 2024.
Many older dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) develop cognitive impairment. Dog owners often describe impairments in multiple sensory functions, yet the relationships between sensory and cognitive function in older dogs is not well understood.
We performed assessments of dog vision and hearing, both clinically (n = 91, electroretinography and brainstem auditory evoked potential) and via validated questionnaire (n = 238). We determined prevalence of sole and dual hearing/vision impairments in younger (<8 years) and older (≥8 years) dogs. Impairment cutoffs were determined using data from young dogs. We assessed the relationships between questionnaire-assessed vision and/or hearing impairments and cognitive impairment using logistic regression.
Younger and older dog groups had similar distributions of sex and purebred/mixed breed status. Sex had no relationship to prevalence of sensory impairments. Older dogs had higher prevalence of hearing, vision, and dual sensory impairments, assessed both clinically and by questionnaire (P<0.001), and cognitive impairment assessed by questionnaire (P<0.001). Dogs had higher prevalence of reported cognitive impairment when owners reported dual vision and hearing impairments (79-94%, versus 25-27% in dogs with no sensory impairments), which was most consistent in dogs aged ≥8 years. In these older dogs, dual vision/hearing impairments were associated with a significantly increased risk of cognitive impairment (1.8-2.0 odds ratio).
Dogs aged ≥8 years are at higher risk for dual hearing/vision impairments and associated cognitive impairments. The causal relationship between these impairments is not defined, but clinical consideration of these multimorbidity risks should be made in older dogs.
许多老年犬（Canis lupus familiaris）会出现认知障碍。犬主人经常描述多种感官功能受损，但老年犬的感官和认知功能之间的关系尚未得到很好的理解。
我们对犬的视觉和听觉进行了评估，包括临床评估（n=91，视网膜电图和脑干听觉诱发电位）和通过验证后的问卷评估（n=238）。我们确定了年轻（<8 岁）和老年（≥8 岁）犬中单一和双重听力/视力障碍的患病率。使用年轻犬的数据确定了损伤的临界值。我们使用逻辑回归评估了问卷评估的视力和/或听力损伤与认知障碍之间的关系。
年轻组和老年组的性别和纯种/杂种比例分布相似。性别与感官损伤的患病率无关。老年犬的听力、视力和双重感官损伤的患病率更高，无论是通过临床评估还是通过问卷评估（P<0.001），以及通过问卷评估的认知障碍（P<0.001）。当主人报告存在双重视力和听力损伤时，犬的认知障碍报告患病率更高（79-94%，而无感官损伤的犬的患病率为 25-27%），在年龄≥8 岁的犬中最为一致。在这些老年犬中，双重视力/听力损伤与认知障碍的风险显著增加相关（1.8-2.0 的比值比）。
年龄≥8 岁的犬存在双重听力/视力损伤和相关认知障碍的风险更高。这些损伤之间的因果关系尚未确定，但在老年犬中应考虑这些多种疾病的风险。
