Randomized Controlled Trial

. 2024 Jul 1;79(7):glae117.

doi: 10.1093/gerona/glae117.

Hearing Impairment and Physical Activity and Physical Functioning in Older Adults: Baseline Results From the ACHIEVE Trial

Yurun Cai^{1

2}, Pablo Martinez-Amezcua^{1

3}, Joshua F Betz^{4

3}, Talan Zhang⁵, Alison R Huang^{1

3}, Amal A Wanigatunga^{1

5}, Nancy W Glynn⁶, Sheila Burgard⁷, Theresa H Chisolm⁸, Josef Coresh^{1

9}, David Couper⁷, Jennifer A Deal^{1

3}, Theresa Gmelin⁶, Adele M Goman^{10

1}, Lisa Gravens-Mueller⁷, Kathleen M Hayden¹¹, Christine M Mitchell^{1

3}, Thomas Mosley¹², James S Pankow¹³, James R Pike⁷, Nicholas S Reed^{1

3}, Victoria A Sanchez¹⁴, Frank R Lin^{1

3}, Jennifer A Schrack^{1

5}; ACHIEVE Collaborative Research Group

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
² Department of Health and Community Systems, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
³ Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁵ Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁷ Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
⁸ Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.
⁹ Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
¹⁰ Departments of School of Health and Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.
¹¹ Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
¹² Division of Geriatrics, The Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, USA.
¹³ Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida, USA.

PMID: 38695059
PMCID: PMC11170292
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glae117

Randomized Controlled Trial

Hearing Impairment and Physical Activity and Physical Functioning in Older Adults: Baseline Results From the ACHIEVE Trial

Yurun Cai et al. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2024.

. 2024 Jul 1;79(7):glae117.

doi: 10.1093/gerona/glae117.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
² Department of Health and Community Systems, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
³ Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁵ Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁷ Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
⁸ Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.
⁹ Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
¹⁰ Departments of School of Health and Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.
¹¹ Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
¹² Division of Geriatrics, The Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, USA.
¹³ Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida, USA.

PMID: 38695059
PMCID: PMC11170292
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glae117

Abstract

Background: Hearing loss is associated with restricted physical activity (PA) and impaired physical functioning, yet the relationship between severity of hearing impairment (HI) and novel PA measures in older adults with untreated HI is not well understood.

Methods: Analyses included 845 participants aged ≥70 years (mean = 76.6 years) with a better-hearing ear pure-tone average (PTA) ≥30 and <70 dB in the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study who wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for 7 days. Physical functioning measures included grip strength and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Linear regression models estimated the association by HI level (moderate or greater [PTA ≥ 40 dB] vs mild [PTA < 40 dB]) and continuous hearing with total daily activity counts, active minutes/day, activity fragmentation, grip strength, and gait speed. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of poor performance on the SPPB (≤6) and its subtests (≤2). Mixed-effects models estimated differences by HI level in activity by time of day.

Results: Participants with moderate or greater HI had poorer physical functioning, particularly balance (OR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.29-3.67), versus those with mild impairment. There was no association of HI level with activity quantities or fragmentation. For diurnal patterns of activity, participants with moderate or greater HI had fewer activity counts in the afternoon (12:00 pm -05:59 pm).

Conclusions: Older adults with worse hearing had shifted diurnal patterns and poorer balance performance. Exercise programs should be tailored to older adults with different levels of HI to maintain PA and physical functioning, particularly balance control.

Keywords: Accelerometry; Activity fragmentation; Balance performance; Diurnal patterns; Hearing loss.

© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.

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Conflict of interest statement

F.R.L. reports being a consultant to Frequency Therapeutics and Apple and being the director of a public health research center funded in part by a philanthropic gift from Cochlear Ltd to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. J.F.B. is entitled to equity and future royalties in MiDiagnostics. A.A.W., F.R.L., and J.A.S. currently serve on the editorial board of The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences (JGMS). The other authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

**Figure 1.**
Means of physical activity and physical function variables by hearing impairment. Independent t tests for physical activity, gait speed, and grip strength. Mann–Whitney tests for actigraph valid days and SPPB (Short Physical Performance Battery) total and subscores. *p < .01. **p < .001.

**Figure 2.**
Smoothed 24-hour median activity counts per minute comparing participants with mild and moderate hearing impairment. Loess smooth method with a span of 0.2 was used for the figure.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Hearing Impairment and Physical Activity and Physical Functioning in Older Adults: Baseline Results From the ACHIEVE Trial

Affiliations

Hearing Impairment and Physical Activity and Physical Functioning in Older Adults: Baseline Results From the ACHIEVE Trial

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous