Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 30, 2025
Measuring Frailty in HIV-infected Individuals. Identification of Frail Patients is the First Step to Amelioration and Reversal of Frailty
Published on: July 24, 2013
Hearing Impairment and Incident Frailty in Later Life: The Health in Men Study (HIMS)
1Rong Tian, Medical School (M577), University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia.
Objectives:
This study is designed to determine if hearing loss is associated with increased risk of frailty in later life.
Design:
A prospective cohort study.
Setting And Participants:
We retrieved data of a community sample of men aged 70 years and above living in the metropolitan region of Perth, Western Australia. 3,285 participants who were free of frailty at the beginning of the study were followed for up to 17 years. Data were retrieved from the Health in Men Study (HIMS) and the Western Australian Data Linkage System (WADLS).
Measurements:
Hearing loss was defined by self-report or by diagnosis recorded in the WADLS. Incident frailty was assessed using the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS).
Results:
A total of 2,348 (71.5%) men developed frailty during follow up. The adjusted hazard ratio was 1.03 (95% CI: 0.95-1.12). The majority of the participants became frail by age 90 regardless of hearing condition. The time point where half of the group become frail was delayed by 14.4 months for men without hearing loss compared with hearing impaired men.
Conclusions:
Hearing loss is not associated with incident frailty in men aged 70 years or older when frailty was measured by HFRS. However, this statistically non-significant result could be due to the low sensitivity of study measures. Also, we found a trend that men with hearing loss were more likely to develop frailty compared with their normal-hearing peers, suggesting a potential association between hearing loss and frailty.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Menopause
01:19The Effect of Aging on Tissues
01:20Disorders of the Male Reproductive System
Prostate disorders are another major concern. These conditions can impair urinary flow due to the prostate's location around the urethra....
01:18Factors Affecting Illness
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness,...
01:29Bone Disorders
Bone deposition is also affected by the levels of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone that promote osteoblast activity and bone matrix synthesis. When the level of these hormones decreases due to aging, it causes a reduction in bone deposition. As a result, bone resorption by osteoclasts...
01:26Factors Affecting the Risk of Infection
The integrity and count of the white blood cells help the body resist pathogens and fight infection. When impaired, it reduces the body's resistance to pathogens. The acidic pH levels of the gastrointestinal, genitourinary tracts, and skin...