Association of Hearing Impairment with Declines in Physical Functioning and the Risk of Disability in Older Adults

Abstract

Background: Identifying factors associated with functional declines in older adults is important given the aging of the population. We investigated if hearing impairment is independently associated with objectively measured declines in physical functioning in a community-based sample of older adults. Methods: Prospective observational study of 2,190 individuals from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. Participants were followed annually for up to 11 visits. Hearing was measured with pure-tone audiometry. Physical functioning and gait speed were measured with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Incident disability and requirement for nursing care were assessed semiannually through self-report. Results: In a mixed-effects model, greater hearing impairment was associated with poorer physical functioning. At both Visit 1 and Visit 11, SPPB scores were lower in individuals with mild (10.14 [95% CI 10.04-10.25], p