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

Abstract

Sensory impairments, such as visual and hearing impairments, and cognitive decline are prevalent among mid-age and older adults in China. With 4-year longitudinal data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we assessed the association between self-reported sensory impairments and episodic memory. Multivariate linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate the association of baseline sensory impairment in 2011-2012 with cognitive decline at 2- and 4-year follow-up visits. Among the 13,097 participants, longitudinal associations were identified between having hearing loss (β = -0.14, 95% CI: -0.22, -0.05), having both poor hearing and vision (β = -0.14, 95% CI: -0.23, -0.04) and decline in immediate word recall over 4 years, compared to those without self-reported sensory impairment. In addition, these associations were more significant among those aged 60 and older and among women. Further research is needed to investigate these associations in the longer term, providing evidence to support interventions that can prevent or delay sensory impairments and preserve cognitive functions in older adults.

Do Sensory Impairments Portend Cognitive Decline in Older Chinese Adults? Longitudinal Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey, 2011–2018

“…In the present longitudinal analyses, we found that HI is independently associated with cognitive decline over 8 years of observation, even after being adjusted with multiple confounders. This result is similar to another report of longitudinal effects of hearing loss on word recall (word recall reflects episodic memory status, which is an important dimension of cognition assessment in MMSE) among our older population [ 47 ]. Further subgroup analyses demonstrated that such association remained across different age categories and gender.…”

Longitudinal associations between self-reported vision impairment and all-cause mortality: a nationally representative cohort study among older Chinese adults

“…was defined by self-reported 'poor' vision. 22 Otherwise, the participants were classified as having 'normal vision' (when participants self-reported their eyesight for seeing things at a distance was 'excellent', 'very good', 'good' or 'fair').…”

“…51 Others have concluded that VI is linked to depression, dementia, social isolation and other mental/social disorders. 22 These conditions are all independent risk factors for mortality. However, due to the methodological challenges of mediation analysis in time-varying models, we cannot perform a rigorous mediation analysis in our study.…”

“…However, recent publications using the CHARLS survey assessment have shown that these instruments were valid even among people who had experienced sensory impairments or learning difficulties. 22 We also acknowledge that the cohort profile of CHARLS only represents the context of community dwellings, we were not able to account for those who are homeless.…”

The Relationship of Age-Related Hearing Loss with Cognitive Decline and Dementia in a Sinitic Language-Speaking Adult Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of reports on the links between ARHL and cognitive impairment or dementia in Sinitic language speakers ( Diao et al, 2021 ; Fu et al, 2021 ; Gao et al, 2020 ; Ma et al, 2021 ; Ren et al, 2019 ; Sun et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2022 ; Xu et al, 2021 ; Zhao et al, 2021 ). The majority of research has shown a link between hearing loss and cognitive impairment or dementia.…”