The impact of hearing impairment and hearing aid use on progression to mild cognitive impairment in cognitively healthy adults: An observational cohort study

Magda Bucholc, Sarah Bauermeister, Daman Kaur, Paula L. McClean, Stephen Todd

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20 Citations (Scopus)
133 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Introduction: We assessed the association of self-reported hearing impairment and hearing aid use with cognitive decline and progression to mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: We used a large referral-based cohort of 4358 participants obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center. The standard covariate-adjusted Cox proportional hazards model, the marginal structural Cox model with inverse probability weighting, standardized Kaplan-Meier curves, and linear mixed-effects models were applied to test the hypotheses.

Results: Hearing impairment was associated with increased risk of MCI (standardized hazard ratio [HR] 2.58, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.73 to 3.84], P = .004) and an accelerated rate of cognitive decline ( P < .001). Hearing aid users were less likely to develop MCI than hearing-impaired individuals who did not use a hearing aid (HR 0.47, 95% CI [0.29 to 0.74], P = .001). No difference in risk of MCI was observed between individuals with normal hearing and hearing-impaired adults using hearing aids (HR 0.86, 95% CI [0.56 to 1.34], P = .51).

Discussion: Use of hearing aids may help mitigate cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere12248
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalAlzheimer's and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions
Volume8
Issue number1
Early online date22 Feb 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished online - 22 Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Dr George Moore Endowment for Data Science at Ulster University (Magda Bucholc); European Union INTERREG VA Program (Magda Bucholc, Paula L. McClean, Stephen Todd, Daman Kaur); Alzheimer's Research UK (Magda Bucholc, Sarah Bauermeister); Dementias Platform UK supported by the Medical Research Council MR/L023784/2 (Sarah Bauermeister). The NACC database is funded by NIA/NIH Grant U01 AG016976. NACC data are contributed by the NIA‐funded ADRCs: P30 AG019610 (PI Eric Reiman, MD), P30 AG013846 (PI Neil Kowall, MD), P50 AG008702 (PI Scott Small, MD), P50 AG025688 (PI Allan Levey, MD, PhD), P50 AG047266 (PI Todd Golde, MD, PhD), P30 AG010133 (PI Andrew Saykin, PsyD), P50 AG005146 (PI Marilyn Albert, PhD), P50 AG005134 (PI Bradley Hyman, MD, PhD), P50 AG016574 (PI Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD), P50 AG005138 (PI Mary Sano, PhD), P30 AG008051 (PI Thomas Wisniewski, MD), P30 AG013854 (PI Robert Vassar, PhD), P30 AG008017 (PI Jeffrey Kaye, MD), P30 AG010161 (PI David Bennett, MD), P50 AG047366 (PI Victor Henderson, MD, MS), P30 AG010129 (PI Charles DeCarli, MD), P50 AG016573 (PI Frank LaFerla, PhD), P50 AG005131 (PI James Brewer, MD, PhD), P50 AG023501 (PI Bruce Miller, MD), P30 AG035982 (PI Russell Swerdlow, MD), P30 AG028383 (PI Linda Van Eldik, PhD), P30 AG053760 (PI Henry Paulson, MD, PhD), P30 AG010124 (PI John Trojanowski, MD, PhD), P50 AG005133 (PI Oscar Lopez, MD), P50 AG005142 (PI Helena Chui, MD), P30 AG012300 (PI Roger Rosenberg, MD), P30 AG049638 (PI Suzanne Craft, PhD), P50 AG005136 (PI Thomas Grabowski, MD), P50 AG033514 (PI Sanjay Asthana, MD, FRCP), P50 AG005681 (PI John Morris, MD), P50 AG047270 (PI Stephen Strittmatter, MD, PhD).

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Dr George Moore Endowment for Data Science at Ulster University (Magda Bucholc); European Union INTERREG VA Program (Magda Bucholc, Paula L. McClean, Stephen Todd, Daman Kaur); Alzheimer's Research UK (Magda Bucholc, Sarah Bauermeister); Dementias Platform UK supported by the Medical Research Council MR/L023784/2 (Sarah Bauermeister). The NACC database is funded by NIA/NIH Grant U01 AG016976. NACC data are contributed by the NIA-funded ADRCs: P30 AG019610 (PI Eric Reiman, MD), P30 AG013846 (PI Neil Kowall, MD), P50 AG008702 (PI Scott Small, MD), P50 AG025688 (PI Allan Levey, MD, PhD), P50 AG047266 (PI Todd Golde, MD, PhD), P30 AG010133 (PI Andrew Saykin, PsyD), P50 AG005146 (PI Marilyn Albert, PhD), P50 AG005134 (PI Bradley Hyman, MD, PhD), P50 AG016574 (PI Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD), P50 AG005138 (PI Mary Sano, PhD), P30 AG008051 (PI Thomas Wisniewski, MD), P30 AG013854 (PI Robert Vassar, PhD), P30 AG008017 (PI Jeffrey Kaye, MD), P30 AG010161 (PI David Bennett, MD), P50 AG047366 (PI Victor Henderson, MD, MS), P30 AG010129 (PI Charles DeCarli, MD), P50 AG016573 (PI Frank LaFerla, PhD), P50 AG005131 (PI James Brewer, MD, PhD), P50 AG023501 (PI Bruce Miller, MD), P30 AG035982 (PI Russell Swerdlow, MD), P30 AG028383 (PI Linda Van Eldik, PhD), P30 AG053760 (PI Henry Paulson, MD, PhD), P30 AG010124 (PI John Trojanowski, MD, PhD), P50 AG005133 (PI Oscar Lopez, MD), P50 AG005142 (PI Helena Chui, MD), P30 AG012300 (PI Roger Rosenberg, MD), P30 AG049638 (PI Suzanne Craft, PhD), P50 AG005136 (PI Thomas Grabowski, MD), P50 AG033514 (PI Sanjay Asthana, MD, FRCP), P50 AG005681 (PI John Morris, MD), P50 AG047270 (PI Stephen Strittmatter, MD, PhD).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.

Keywords

  • RESEARCH ARTICLE
  • RESEARCH ARTICLES
  • cognitive decline
  • cognitive impairment
  • dementia
  • dementia prevention
  • hearing aid
  • hearing impairment
  • hearing loss
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • preventive intervention

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