Impairments in hearing and vision impact on mortality in older people: the AGES-Reykjavik Study.

• Published in: Age and Ageing
• Main Authors: Fisher, Diana, Li, Chuan-Ming, Chiu, May S, Themann, Christa L, Petersen, Hannes, Jónasson, Friðbert, Jónsson, Pálmi V, Sverrisdottir, Johanna Eyrun, Garcia, Melissa, Harris, Tamara B, Launer, Lenore J, Eiriksdottir, Gudny, Gudnason, Vilmundur, Hoffman, Howard J, Cotch, Mary Frances
• Other Authors: NEI, Div Epidemiol & Clin Applicat, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA, NIDCD, Div Sci Programs, Epidemiol & Stat Program, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA, NIOSH, Hearing Loss Prevent Team, Ctr Dis Control & Prevent, Cincinnati, OH 45226 USA, Univ Iceland, Fac Med, Reykjavik, Iceland, Landspitali Univ Hosp, Dept Otolaryngol Head & Neck Surg, Reykjavik, Iceland, Landspitali Univ Hosp, Reykjavik, Iceland, Landspitali Univ Hosp, Dept Geriatr, IS-101 Reykjavjk, Iceland, Iceland Heart Assoc, Kopavogur, Iceland, NIA, Lab Epidemiol Demog & Biometry, Intramural Res Program, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Univ Press 2014
• Subjects: Heyrnarskerðing; Sjónskertir; Sjónskerðing; Heyrnarskertir; Aldraðir; Áhættuþættir; Dánarmein; Age Factors; Aged; 80 and over; Cause of Death; Female; Hearing*; Hearing Disorders/diagnosis; Humans; Iceland/epidemiology; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Persons With Hearing Impairments*; Prevalence; Proportional Hazards Models; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Time Factors; Vision Disorders/diagnosis; Vision; Ocular*; Visually Impaired Persons*; Hearing Disorders/mortality*; Hearing Disorders/physiopathology; Vision Disorders/mortality*; Vision Disorders/physiopathology; Meier; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/325204; https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/aft122

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access. to examine the relationships between impairments in hearing and vision and mortality from all-causes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among older people. population-based cohort study. the study population included 4,926 Icelandic individuals, aged ≥67 years, 43.4% male, who completed vision and hearing examinations between 2002 and 2006 in the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES-RS) and were followed prospectively for mortality through 2009. participants were classified as having 'moderate or greater' degree of impairment for vision only (VI), hearing only (HI), and both vision and hearing (dual sensory impairment, DSI). Cox proportional hazard regression, with age as the time scale, was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) associated with impairment and mortality due to all-causes and specifically CVD after a median follow-up of 5.3 years. the prevalence of HI, VI and DSI were 25.4, 9.2 and 7.0%, respectively. After adjusting for age, significantly (P < 0.01) increased mortality from all causes, and CVD was observed for HI and DSI, especially among men. After further adjustment for established mortality risk factors, people with HI remained at higher risk for CVD mortality [HR: 1.70 (1.27-2.27)], whereas people with DSI remained at higher risk of all-cause mortality [HR: 1.43 (1.11-1.85)] and CVD mortality [HR: 1.78 (1.18-2.69)]. Mortality rates were significantly higher in men with HI and DSI and were elevated, although not significantly, among women with HI. older men with HI or DSI had a greater risk of dying from any cause and particularly cardiovascular causes within a median 5-year follow-up. Women with hearing impairment had a non-significantly elevated risk. Vision impairment alone was not associated with increased mortality. National Institutes of Health, ...