As we age, the likelihood of experiencing problems with our hearing and sight increases. In a new study, recently published in Neurology, a team of Korean researchers have found that losing function in both senses doubles the risk of dementia, whereas hearing or sight impairments alone do not.
Studying the association between hearing and sight impairment in the community-based Korean Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging and Dementia (KLOSCAD), researchers obtained self-report questionnaires from over 6,500 individuals aged between 58 and 101 years. At the start of study, 2,631 participants reported dual sensory impairment (DSI; hearing and sight impairment), with only 932 participants reporting no problems with their hearing or eyesight. Double the number of participants with DSI (8%) had a dementia diagnosis compared to those with single sensory impairment (SSI) or no sensory impairment. During the 6-year follow-up period, a further 245 participants received a diagnosis of dementia, 146 of whom had problems with both sight and hearing. The incidence of dementia was twice as high in the group of participants with DSI compared to those with no sensory impairment, and these individuals experienced a faster rate of cognitive decline over the 6-year study period.
https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2021/04/07/WNL.0000000000011845
