Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 May;65(5):958-965.
doi: 10.1111/jgs.14687. Epub 2016 Dec 19.

Self-Reported Hearing Impairment and Incident Frailty in English Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A 4-Year Follow-Up Study

Ann E M Liljas  1 , Livia A Carvalho  2 , Efstathios Papachristou  1 , Cesar De Oliveira  2 , S Goya Wannamethee  1 , Sheena E Ramsay  1 , Kate Walters  1
Affiliations

Self-Reported Hearing Impairment and Incident Frailty in English Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A 4-Year Follow-Up Study

Ann E M Liljas et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2017 May.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the association between hearing impairment and incident frailty in older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses with 4-year follow-up using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Setting: Community.

Participants: Community-dwelling individuals aged 60 and older with data on hearing and frailty status (N = 2,836).

Measurements: Hearing impairment was defined as poor self-reported hearing. Having none of the five Fried frailty phenotype components (slow walking, weak grip, self-reported exhaustion, weight loss and low physical activity) was defined as not frail, having one or two as prefrail, and having three or more as frail. Participants who were not frail at baseline were followed for incident prefrailty and frailty. Participants who were prefrail at baseline were followed for incident frailty.

Results: One thousand three hundred ninety six (49%) participants were not frail, 1,178 (42%) were prefrail, and 262 (9%) were frail according to the Fried phenotype. At follow-up, there were 367 new cases of prefrailty and frailty among those who were not frail at baseline (n = 1,396) and 133 new cases of frailty among those who were prefrail at baseline (n = 1,178). Cross-sectional analysis showed an association between hearing impairment and frailty (age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.37-2.01), which remained after further adjustments for wealth, education, cardiovascular disease, cognition, and depression. In longitudinal analyses, nonfrail participants with hearing impairment were at greater risk of becoming prefrail and frail at follow-up (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.05-1.95), but the association was attenuated after further adjustment. Prefrail participants with hearing impairment had a greater risk of becoming frail at follow-up (OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.07-2.51) even after further adjustment.

Conclusion: Hearing impairment in prefrail older adults was associated with greater risk of becoming frail, independent of covariates, suggesting that hearing impairment may hasten the progression of frailty.

Keywords: aging; frailty; hearing impairment; older adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Akeroyd MA, Foreman K, Holman JA. Estimates of the number of adults in England, Wales, and Scotland with a hearing loss. Int J Audiol 2014;53:60–61. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liljas AE, Wannamethee SG, Whincup PH et al. Socio‐demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors and burden of morbidity associated with self‐reported hearing and vision impairments in older British community‐dwelling men: A cross‐sectional study. J Public Health (Oxf) 2016;38:e21–e28. - PubMed
    1. Campbell VA, Crews JE, Moriarty DG et al. Surveillance for sensory impairment, activity limitation, and health‐related quality of life among older adults—United States, 1993–1997. MMWR CDC Surveill Summ 1999;48:131–156. - PubMed
    1. Crews JE, Campbell VA. Vision impairment and hearing loss among community‐dwelling older Americans: Implications for health and functioning. Am J Public Health 2004;94:823–829. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Office for National Statistics . National Population Projections, 2012‐based. Chapter 2, Summary results, 2014 [on‐line]. Available at www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_355182.pdf Accessed April 17, 2016.

LinkOut - more resources