Effects of frontal-executive dysfunction on self-perceived hearing handicap in the elderly with mild cognitive impairment

Abstract

It is increasingly agreed upon that cognitive and audiological factors are associated with self-perceived hearing handicap in old adults. This study aimed to compare self-perceived hearing handicap among mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subgroups and a cognitively normal elderly (CNE) group and determine which factors (i.e., demographic, audiometric, or neuropsychological factors) are correlated with self-perceived hearing handicap in each group. A total of 46 MCI patients and 39 hearing threshold-matched CNE subjects participated in this study, and their age ranged from 55 to 80 years. The MCI patients were reclassified into two groups: 16 with frontal-executive dysfunction (FED) and 30 without FED. All subjects underwent audiometric, neuropsychological, and self-perceived hearing handicap assessments. The Korean version of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (K-HHIE) was administered to obtain the hearing handicap scores for each subject. After controlling for age, years of education, and depression levels, we found no significant differences in the K-HHIE scores between the MCI and the CNE groups. However, after we classified the MCI patients into the MCI with FED and MCI without FED groups, the MCI with FED group scored significantly higher than did both the MCI without FED and the CNE groups. In addition, after controlling for depression levels, significant partial correlations of hearing handicap scores with frontal-executive function scores and speech-in-noise perception performance were found in the MCI groups. In the CNE group, the hearing handicap scores were related to peripheral hearing sensitivity and years of education. In summary, MCI patients with FED are more likely to experience everyday hearing handicap than those without FED and cognitively normal old adults. Although educational level and peripheral hearing function are related to self-perceived hearing handicap in cognitively normal old adults, speech-in-noise perception and frontal-executive function are mainly associated with hearing handicap in patients with MCI.

Longitudinal Association Between Self-Reported Sensory Impairments and Episodic Memory among Older Adults in China: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…Third, hearing and visual impairment may affect the perceiving and encoding of the test stimuli. It is likely that the measurement of memory can be influenced by sensory alterations, 64 a measurement error that should be assessed in future studies based on laboratory measurements. Having learning difficulties or being illiterate may also influence the cognitive test results.…”

Multidimensional Analysis of Communication Skills in Geriatric Individuals

“…Similarly, studies examining the relationship between attention and perception and HI, which are reported a decrease in attention and perception as the level of HI increases, also indicate a decrease in cognitive performance 9,17,18. Many studies have reported that auditory deprivation and social isolation affect cognitive performance by reducing the quality of communication, which in turn leads to depression and facilitates dementia 18–21. At the same time, limited cognitive skills increase the negative effects of HI and decrease auditory perception skills 12.…”

“…9,17,18 Many studies have reported that auditory deprivation and social isolation affect cognitive performance by reducing the quality of communication, which in turn leads to depression and facilitates dementia. [18][19][20][21] At the same time, limited cognitive skills increase the negative effects of HI and decrease auditory perception skills. 12 It is believed that increased hearing disability with age can cause neurodegenerative diseases, decreased cognitive skills, decreased auditory perception skills, and neurophysiological disorders, which negatively impact attention and memory skills.…”

The executive disruption model of tinnitus distress: Model validation in two independent datasets using factor score regression

“…Associations have been reported between hearing handicap and tinnitus distress (Henry, 2016;Ivansic et al, 2017); as the causal relationship between them is unknown, an association is specified. Executive function and hearing handicap share an association (Lee et al, 2019). Cuny et al (2004) have suggested that the laterality of a tinnitus percept may direct attention towards the tinnitus sound; however, executive functioning cannot cause tinnitus laterality, a causal relationship could be specified.…”