HEARING IN ADVANCED AGE - A STUDY OF PRESBYACUSIS IN 85, 88 AND 90-YEAR-OLD PEOPLE

Hearing in elderly people was investigated in an epidemiological longi tudinal study (H70) encompassing a cohort representative of an urban S wedish population born in 1901-02. The participants in the study were followed audiometrically over a 20-year period from 70 to 90 years of age. This study focused on hearing and its decline during the later ti me span in which the participants were tested at the age of 85, 88 and 90 years. The results revealed that hearing loss in advanced age prog ressed only slightly in both men and women. The annual hearing thresho ld decline was about twice as large in the eighth decade of life as co mpared with the ninth. Hearing function was similar in the respondents tested at the out-patient clinic and in those tested at home. There w ere no consistent indications that survivors to a great age showed bet ter hearing at entry to the study at 70 years of age. Some gender diff erences were found and are discussed.