Hearing impairment is associated with cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults: A cross-sectional study

Hearing impairment (HI) is associated with dementia. However, the cognitive screening tasks effective in older community dwellers presenting with HI are unclear.

We retrospectively and cross-sectionally investigated the associations between HI and cognitive function assessed with screening tasks using data from two healthcare check-up programs for community dwellers ≥65 years old in 2018. We examined demographics, risk factors, cognitive function, hearing condition, lifestyles, and self-care levels. Cognitive function was assessed using the clock drawing task and the delayed three words recall task. Hearing condition was assessed using questionnaires on the use of hearing aids and HI during conversation situations. Multivariate analysis was used to identify independent associations between HI and cognitive assessment tasks.

We analyzed 1602 eligible participants (61.9% women; 74.3 ± 6.5 years old). Hearing aid users (n = 90) were older (80 vs. 73 years, respectively; p < 0.001) and less likely to draw the clock correctly (71.1% vs. 80.1% years, respectively; p = 0.044) than non-hearing aid users. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HI was associated with inability to draw the clock correctly (odds ratio 1.60, 95% confidence interval 1.12-2.26; p = 0.011), independent of age, living alone, memory impairment, and impaired self-care levels.

Hearing impairment is independently associated with cognitive decline assessed by the clock drawing task. The clock drawing task may be useful for identifying an increased risk of dementia in older subjects presenting with HI.