Incorporating vision and hearing tests into aged care assessment: methods and the pilot study

Abstract

Purpose: Vision and hearing impairments are frequent in older people and may contribute to their reliance on aged care services. This study aims to assess whether incorporating vision and hearing screening into routine aged care assessments and provision of appropriate health care services will influence health outcomes of older individuals.

Methods: The proposed project is a 2 x 2 factorial design randomized controlled trial. The pilot study recruited 208 participants aged 65+ years attending an aged care assessment center at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, who were randomly allocated to one of four groups: vision and hearing tests, vision tests only, hearing tests only, or neither. Face-to-face interviews with all participants were conducted. Questionnaires included Activity of Daily Living (ADL), 36-item Short-Form health survey (SF-36), Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and questions about use of health care and community support services. Participants will be re-examined after 12 months to assess changes over time in quality-of-life, physical and cognitive function, incident falls and use of health and community aged care services.