OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare independent impacts of
two levels of self-reported hearing and vision impairment on subsequent di
sability, physical functioning, mental health, and social functioning.
DESIGN: A 1-year prospective cohort study.
SETTING: San Francisco Bay Area, California.
PARTICIPANTS: Two thousand four hundred forty-two community-dwelling men an
d women age 50 to 102 from the Alameda County Study (California).
MEASUREMENTS: Hearing and vision impairment were assessed in 1994. Outcomes
, measured in 1995, included physical disability (activities of daily livin
g, instrumental activities of daily living, physical performance, mobility,
and lack of participation in activities), mental health (self-assessed, ma
jor depressive episode), and social functioning (feeling left out, feeling
lonely, hard to feel close to others, inability to pay attention). All 1995
outcomes were adjusted for baseline 1994 values.
RESULTS: Both impairments had strong independent impacts on subsequent func
tioning. Vision impairment exerted a more wide-ranging impact on functional
status, ranging from physical disability to social functioning. However, t
he results also highlighted the importance of hearing impairment, even when
mild.
CONCLUSIONS: These impairments can be partially ameliorated through prevent
ion, assessment, and treatment strategies. Greater attention to sensory imp
airments by clinicians, patients, public health advocates, and researchers
is needed to enhance functioning in older adults.