- Mar 12, 2025
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Abstract of 2nd-agconf
Proceedings of the 2nd Global Conference on Aging and Gerontology
Year: 2025
DOI:
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Hearing Impairment As Risk Factor For Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Big-Data Analysis Among Older Adults
Sreeja Padman Alishetty, Stefanos Tyrovolas, Iago Gine Vazquez,, Daniel Fernandez, Josep Maria Haro
ABSTRACT:
The factors associated with dementia onset still remain understudied, especially among international populations. Recently hearing impairment has been identified among them. However, big-data analysis between dementia and hearing impairment including multinational data remains limited. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the relationship of hearing impairment to dementia using the international sample of ATHLOS. Methodology: For the purposes of this study, the ATHLOS harmonised dataset, which includes information from individuals aged 65+ in 38 countries, was analysed (n=135,440). In the ATHLOS dataset, information on dementia was homogenised among the different studies throughout two binary variables (having and not having dementia). Similarly hearing impairment was defined in a binary variable of yes/no. The rest of the covariates were measured using standardized methods. Results: Logistic regression models were utilized to evaluate the role of hearing impairment on the odds of older adults’ dementia. Our findings note associations between hearing impairment and the presence of dementia (OR = 3.47, p < 0.001) in the total sample as well as among different population subgroups. Conclusions: Our analysis will add to the literature showing that hearing impairment is a risk factor for dementia among older adults at international level. In addition, hearing impairment prevention planning among older adults taking into account various factors could help them maintain a better quality of life (with better cognitive capacity and higher functionality) throughout the ageing process.
keywords: hearing loss, dementia, cognition, ageing, older adults