Can adults living with dementia complete pure-tone audiometry? A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: It is estimated that over 60% of adults with dementia will also have a hearing impairment, resulting in a dual sensory-cognitive communication disability. Hearing interventions may lessen the impact of hearing impairment on a communication disability; yet, for audiologists to recommend appropriate hearing interventions, the individual's hearing thresholds must first be accurately established. The gold standard test for establishing hearing thresholds is pure-tone audiometry (PTA). However, the ability of adults with dementia to successfully complete PTA is uncertain. This systematic review examined studies of adults with dementia to better determine the proportion who could complete PTA.

Design: Systematic review.

Study sample: Studies were included that assessed hearing in older adults who were reported as having mild and greater dementia. From a total of 1,237 eligible studies, only three were found to meet all inclusion criteria.

Results: Across these three studies, the proportion of adults with dementia who could successfully complete PTA ranged from 56% to 59%.

Conclusions: Further research is needed in this area, particularly for adults with moderate and severe stages of dementia. Future research should also consider the feasibility of complementary, non-behavioural hearing tests. This systematic review was registered with the PROSPERO database, registration number CRD42017073041.

Keywords: Hearing loss; dementia; geriatric assessment; hearing test; pure-tone audiometry.