Dynamic associations between vision and hearing impairment and depressive symptoms among older Chinese adults

Whether the impact of vision impairment (VI)/hearing impairment (HI) on depressive symptoms changes over time has not been investigated. This study aimed to examine the complex dynamic associations between VI/HI and depressive symptoms to design effective prevention strategies for older Chinese adults.

Data were from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The study identified self-reported VI, HI, depressive symptoms, and other covariates (including social isolation). Logistic regression models were used to analyze the dynamic associations across three waves, with the assessment of multiplicative and additive interactions.

Of the 8519 participants in wave 1 (mean [SD] age, 62.0 [8.0] years, 49.5 % male), 38.5 % had depressive symptoms. After adjusting for covariates including social isolation, VI and HI were significantly associated with depressive symptoms across all three waves. Specifically, the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of VI increased from 2.08 (95 % CI: 1.89 to 2.29) in wave 1 to 2.15 (95 % CI: 1.90 to 2.44) in wave 3; while the AOR of HI increased from 1.80 (95 % CI: 1.58 to 2.04) in wave 1 to 2.11 (95 % CI: 1.75 to 2.51) in wave 3. The additive interactions between VI and HI on depressive symptoms in each wave (e.g., RERI [95 % CI]: 7.90 [2.51 to 12.30] in wave 1) were significant without adjusting for social isolation.

The study suggests that VI and HI are consistently associated with depressive symptoms among older adults in China over a four-year period, and their influences on mental health deserve more attention.