[MoCA and P300 reveal cognitive decline in patients with sensory age-related hearing loss]

Objective:To explore the cognitive function of sensory age-related hearing loss（ARHL） patients and compare it with healthy control group. Methods:Twenty-two patients with bilateral symmetrical sensory ARHL and 21 healthy elderly controls with normal hearing were recruited. All participants were evaluated for cognitive function using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment（MoCA） and the P300 objective electrophysiological test, respectively. P300 latency, amplitude, the total MoCA score, and scores of different dimensions of the MoCA scale were recorded and statistically analyzed. Results:①The healthy control group showed a significantly higher total MoCA score than the sensory ARHL group（P=0.038）. This difference was primarily driven by the visuospatial/executive function（P<0.001）, attention（P=0.003）, and abstraction（P<0.001） domains. ②A significant difference in P300 latency was observed between the healthy control group and the sensory ARHL group（P=0.006）. ③No significant correlation was found between P300 latency and each dimension of the MOCA scale in both groups. Conclusion:Patients with sensory ARHL exhibit cognitive decline, which is primarily manifested as impairments in visuospatial/executive function, attention, and abstraction. The P300 test, as an objective electrophysiological measure, can serve as a crucial complementary tool to the subjective MoCA questionnaire, with prolonged latency being a key indicative parameter.