Guo Muqi, Bassil Darina T, Farrell Meagan T, Wagner Ryan G, Tipping Brent, Mahlalela Nomsa B, Kapaon David A, Tollman Stephen, Berkman Lisa F
Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Jul;21(7):e70513. doi: 10.1002/alz.70513.
South Africa faces growing dementia challenges, worsened by limited medical resources and low education. Modifiable risk factors like hearing and vision impairments remain understudied despite their high prevalence.
We analyzed data from 567 participants in a rural South African cohort to examine the associations between vision and hearing impairment, and dementia outcomes. Multinomial logistic regression assessed associations between sensory impairments (distance vision, near vision, hearing) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. Linear regression examined sensory impairment and predicted dementia probability score 2 years later.
Half of the participants were over 70, with no formal education. Sensory impairments were common, especially in dementia cases. Distance vision impairment was linked to both MCI and dementia, while near vision and hearing impairments were associated with dementia. Hearing impairment also predicted higher dementia probability after 2 years.
Addressing sensory impairments is key to dementia prevention in rural South Africa.
Among rural older South Africans, 65% had near vision impairment and 47% had hearing impairment. Distance or near vision and hearing impairments are linked to an increased risk of dementia. Distance vision impairment is also associated with a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Dementia risk was seven times higher with distance vision, near vision and hearing impairment. Hearing impairment increased the probability of dementia 2 years later in initially non-demented individuals.
南非面临着日益严峻的痴呆症挑战，医疗资源有限和教育水平低下使这一情况更加恶化。尽管听力和视力障碍等可改变的风险因素患病率很高，但对其研究仍然不足。
我们分析了南非农村队列中567名参与者的数据，以研究视力和听力障碍与痴呆症结果之间的关联。多项逻辑回归评估了感觉障碍（远视力、近视力、听力）与轻度认知障碍（MCI）或痴呆症之间的关联。线性回归研究了感觉障碍并预测了两年后的痴呆症概率得分。
一半的参与者年龄超过70岁，未接受过正规教育。感觉障碍很常见，尤其是在痴呆症患者中。远视力障碍与MCI和痴呆症均有关联，而近视力和听力障碍与痴呆症有关。听力障碍也预示着两年后痴呆症概率更高。
解决感觉障碍是南非农村地区预防痴呆症的关键。
在南非农村老年人群中，65%有近视力障碍，47%有听力障碍。远视力或近视力以及听力障碍与痴呆症风险增加有关。远视力障碍也与轻度认知障碍（MCI）的较高风险有关。远视力、近视力和听力障碍使痴呆症风险增加七倍。听力障碍增加了最初无痴呆症个体两年后患痴呆症的概率。
