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Self‐Reported Hearing Impairment and Incident Frailty in English Community‐Dwelling Older Adults: A 4‐Year Follow‐Up Study
Author(s) -
Liljas Ann E. M.,
Carvalho Livia A.,
Papachristou Efstathios,
Oliveira Cesar De,
Wannamethee S. Goya,
Ramsay Sheena E.,
Walters Kate
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.14687
Subject(s) - medicine , hearing loss , confidence interval , gerontology , odds ratio , longitudinal study , cross sectional study , depression (economics) , physical therapy , audiology , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
Objectives To examine the association between hearing impairment and incident frailty in older adults. Design Cross‐sectional and longitudinal analyses with 4‐year follow‐up using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Setting Community. Participants Community‐dwelling individuals aged 60 and older with data on hearing and frailty status (N = 2,836). Measurements Hearing impairment was defined as poor self‐reported hearing. Having none of the five Fried frailty phenotype components (slow walking, weak grip, self‐reported exhaustion, weight loss and low physical activity) was defined as not frail, having one or two as prefrail, and having three or more as frail. Participants who were not frail at baseline were followed for incident prefrailty and frailty. Participants who were prefrail at baseline were followed for incident frailty. Results One thousand three hundred ninety six (49%) participants were not frail, 1,178 (42%) were prefrail, and 262 (9%) were frail according to the Fried phenotype. At follow‐up, there were 367 new cases of prefrailty and frailty among those who were not frail at baseline (n = 1,396) and 133 new cases of frailty among those who were prefrail at baseline (n = 1,178). Cross‐sectional analysis showed an association between hearing impairment and frailty (age‐ and sex‐adjusted odds ratio ( OR ) = 1.66, 95% confidence interval ( CI ) = 1.37–2.01), which remained after further adjustments for wealth, education, cardiovascular disease, cognition, and depression. In longitudinal analyses, nonfrail participants with hearing impairment were at greater risk of becoming prefrail and frail at follow‐up ( OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.05–1.95), but the association was attenuated after further adjustment. Prefrail participants with hearing impairment had a greater risk of becoming frail at follow‐up ( OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.07–2.51) even after further adjustment. Conclusion Hearing impairment in prefrail older adults was associated with greater risk of becoming frail, independent of covariates, suggesting that hearing impairment may hasten the progression of frailty.