Healio
19th October 2020
Visual, hearing impairments may increase risk for cognitive decline, depression
Individuals with visual and/or hearing impairments were at increased risk for cognitive decline and depression, according to results of a cross-sectional study published in JAMA Network Open.
“The risk [for] visual and hearing impairments increases with age, and some emerging literature considers them risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia,” Hongguo Rong, PhD, of the China Center for Health Development Studies at Peking University in China, and colleagues wrote. “By 2050, it is estimated that more than 900 million people in the world will be living with clinically meaningful hearing loss. It is also estimated that approximately 2.2 billion people in the world experience some form of vision impairment, including blindness and moderate to severe vision impairment.”
According to the researchers, China has a significantly higher prevalence of sensory impairments vs. Europe and the United States; however, research is lacking regarding the link between sensory impairments and cognitive decline and depression.