Dual sensory impairment and healthcare use: Findings from a nationally representative sample

Abstract

Aim Dual sensory impairment (DSI) is a common phenomenon in later life. However, only a few studies investigated whether DSI is associated with healthcare use. Therefore, our purpose was to determine whether DSI is associated with healthcare use among older adults. Methods Data were taken from the most recent sixth wave of the German Ageing Survey. When self‐reported hearing problems and visual impairment were both present, individuals were classified as dual sensory impaired. The frequency of general practitioner (GP) visits, frequency of specialist visits and hospitalization were used as outcome measures. Covariates (mainly based on self‐reports) were selected based on Andersen's behavioral model. In total, 5081 observations were in our analytical sample. Results Among individuals with DSI, mean ± SD number of GP visits was 4.4 ± 4.7, mean ± SD number of specialist visits was 3.7 ± 5.0, and 23.2% were hospitalized in the past 12 months. Among individuals without sensory impairment, mean ± SD number of GP visits was 3.0 ± 3.6, mean ± SD number of specialist visits was 2.4 ± 3.4, and 17% were hospitalized in the past 12 months. Negative binomial regressions revealed that the presence of DSI was associated with increased specialist visits (incidence rate ratio = 1.17 [95% confidence interval: 1.06–1.28]), whereas it was not associated with GP visits and hospitalization. Conclusions Even after adjusting for several covariates, individuals with DSI had higher specialist visits than individuals without DSI. As the presence of DSI is associated with an increased economic burden, efforts to prevent or delay DSI may be beneficial. Geriatr Gerontol Int ••; ••: ••–•• Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; ••: ••–••.

Health-related quality of life associated with sensory impairment in Chinese middle-aged and older adults: a cohort study

“…One study reported a 58.6% prevalence of DSI among adults aged 45 years or older25; another study documented the prevalence of self-reported HI only, VI only and DSI in older Chinese adults being 5.7%, 22.2% and 58.6%, respectively;27 there was also literature focusing on long-lived individuals over 95 years of age in China and reported even higher prevalence among them: 66.1% of VI and 87.3% of HI 23. However, our estimates of SI prevalence seemed much higher than those reported in other studies from China (11.8% HI only, 6.3% VI only and 2.1% DSI28) and countries such as Korea (12.4% DSI29), Europe (eg, 34.4% either HI or VI, and 15.8% DSI in Germany30; 13.5% HI only, 10.2% VI only and 5.9% DSI in 11 European countries31), Canada (1.9% DSI32) and USA (24.4% HI only, 14.5% VI only and 18.2% DSI33). The discrepancies in prevalence rates across studies might be attributed to varieties in SI measurements (eg, self-reports or objective assessments) and participant characteristics (eg, age, race).…”

Longitudinal relationship between sensory impairments and depressive symptoms in older adults: The mediating role of functional limitation

“…Our study reported a 58.6% prevalence of DSI among older adults, which was higher than that in other countries, such as Korea (12.4%) (Kim et al, 2015), United States (18.2%) (Deardorff et al, 2019), and Germany (15.8%) (Hajek & Konig, 2020). One possible reason might be the difference in the measures of DSI across different studies.…”

Prevalence and risk factors of dual sensory impairment among community‐dwelling older adults in Selangor: A secondary data analysis

“…In recent years, there has been increasing interest in people with concurrent losses of both senses, or dual sensory impairment (DSI). 7,8 DSI, sometimes referred to as deaf blindness is a condition where hearing and visual impairment occur concurrently. Older adults with DSI were reported with the greatest decline in different physical and cognitive abilities and rates of mortality as compared with those with single sensory impairment.…”

“…Researchers typically studied hearing loss and visual loss in isolation and in different groups of subjects, 5,6 making it impossible to determine how these two sensory losses interact with each other. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in people with concurrent losses of both senses, or dual sensory impairment (DSI) 7,8 . DSI, sometimes referred to as deaf blindness is a condition where hearing and visual impairment occur concurrently.…”