Association of dual sensory impairment with changes in life space: A longitudinal study with two-year follow-up

Dual sensory impairment (DSI) of hearing and vision in older adults may limit lifestyle activities of daily living and contribute to a reduced life space. This study aimed to investigate how DSI is associated with specific lifestyle activities and predicts changes in mobility in life space.

Participants comprised 4214 older adults (52.3 % female, mean age 75.8 years) who met the study's inclusion criteria. The participants were divided into three groups according to the number of sensory impairments: (1) no sensory impairment (NSI), (2) single sensory impairment (SSI), and (3) DSI.

We investigated the association between DSI and specific lifestyle activities at baseline. The Active Mobility Index (AMI) was used to assess life-space. Two years later, the association between DSI and life-space mobility was verified using multinomial logistic regression analysis.

DSI was more likely to have limited people's instrumental activities of daily living and cognitive, social, and productive activities at baseline (P < 0.05). In the adjusted model with potential covariates, people with DSI had a lower life-space score at 2 years than people with NSI (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.95), but the difference was not significant for SSI (OR = 0.98, 95 % CI: 0.78-1.24).

This study suggested that DSI was a factor that limited various activities and narrowed the life-space mobility of older adults. Prevention of DSI may be important for community-dwelling older adults to maintain a more active lifestyle.