Hearing function, perception of disability (handicap) and cognition in the elderly: a relation to be elucidated

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze auditory perception, hearing and cognition in the elderly referred for audiological evaluation and search for correlations between hearing and cognitive abilities. Method: An observational and descriptive study, carried out with 135 elderly people. The participants did the auditory (tonal audiometry, speech audiometry, immittance measures, HHIE Questionnaire - Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly) and the cognitive (MMSE - Mini Mental State Examination) assessments. Results: There is a high prevalence of hearing complaints (91.85%) and hearing loss (91.85%) in the elderly referred for audiological assessment, but there was no relation between the degree of hearing loss (p = 0.537) and the auditory perception (p = 0.930) in relation to cognitive performance. Conclusion: In this study, the degree of hearing loss did not influence the cognitive performance of the elderly, and the auditory handicap perception did not differ between individuals with normal or altered cognition.