Gender Differences in the Association Between Hearing Loss and Cognitive Function. (20th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huang, Bowen; Cao, Guilan; Duan, Yanran; Yan, Siyu; Yan, Mingming; Yin, Ping; Jiang, Hongwei
• Is Part Of: American journal of Alzheimer's disease & other dementias. Volume 35(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-01-20
• Subjects: dementia -- cognition impairment -- hearing loss -- gender-specific association -- aging; Alzheimer's disease -- Periodicals; Dementia -- Periodicals; Alzheimer's disease -- Patients -- Care -- United States -- Periodicals; 616.83
• DOI: 10.1177/1533317519871167
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1533-3175

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the association between hearing loss and cognitive function by gender in a nationally representative sample of older adults. Methods: We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2011) for 655 participants aged 60 to 69 years. The cognitive functioning component consisted of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease, the Animal Fluency Test, and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. We created a composite z score to represent global cognitive function. Regression models were used to examine the association between hearing loss and cognitive function. Results: Moderate/severe hearing loss was significantly associated with lower composite z score in males (β = −28.67, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = −57.13 to −0.20) but not in females (β = −8.82, 95% CI = −36.61 to 18.96). Conclusion: There were gender differences in the association between hearing loss and cognitive function. Future studies need to investigate these gender-specific associations.