Hearing function, perception of disability (handicap) and cognition in the elderly: a relation to be elucidated

Borges, Kellen Cristine de Souza; Resende, Luciana Macedo de; Couto, Erica de Araújo Brandão

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Original Article • CoDAS 33 (5) • 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/20202020150 copy

Hearing function, perception of disability (handicap) and cognition in the elderly: a relation to be elucidated

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To analyze auditory perception, hearing and cognition in the elderly referred for audiological evaluation and search for correlations between hearing and cognitive abilities.

Method

An observational and descriptive study, carried out with 135 elderly people. The participants did the auditory (tonal audiometry, speech audiometry, immittance measures, HHIE Questionnaire - Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly) and the cognitive (MMSE - Mini Mental State Examination) assessments.

Results

There is a high prevalence of hearing complaints (91.85%) and hearing loss (91.85%) in the elderly referred for audiological assessment, but there was no relation between the degree of hearing loss (p = 0.537) and the auditory perception (p = 0.930) in relation to cognitive performance.

Conclusion

In this study, the degree of hearing loss did not influence the cognitive performance of the elderly, and the auditory handicap perception did not differ between individuals with normal or altered cognition.

Keywords:
Elderly; Cognition; Cognitive Disorders; Auditory Perception; Hearing Loss

Variables		N	%
Sex	Female	91	67.41%
Sex	Male	44	32.59%
Education	Illiterate	21	15.56%
	Low education level	73	54.07%
	Average schooling	15	11.11%
	High Schooling	26	19.26%
Depression	Yes	47	34.81%
Depression	No	88	65.19%
SAH	Yes	94	69.63%
SAH	No	41	30.37%
DM	Yes	30	22.22%
DM	No	105	77.78%
DLP	Yes	40	29.63%
DLP	No	95	70.37%
B12 deficiency	Yes	7	5.19%
B12 deficiency	No	128	94.81%
Polymorbidity	Yes	19	14.07%
Polymorbidity	No	116	85.93%
Polypharmacy	Yes	45	33.33%
Polypharmacy	No	90	66.67%
Hearing complaint	Yes	124	91.85%
Hearing complaint	No	11	8.15%
Hearing complaint side	RE	4	3.20%
	LE	two	1.60%
	Both	119	95.20%
Worst Side	RE	28	22.40%
	LE	39	31.20%
	Ears same	58	46.40%
Family history	Yes	8	5.93%
Family history	No	127	94.07%
History of occupational noise	Yes	32	23.70%
History of occupational noise	No	103	76.30%
Past Infection	Yes	6	4.44%
Past Infection	No	129	95.56%
Buzz	Yes	79	58.52%
Buzz	No	56	41.48%
Tinnitus Location	RE	10	12.66%
	LE	14	17.72%
	Both ears	46	58.23%
	Head	9	11.39%
Difficulty understanding speech	Yes	109	80.74%
Difficulty understanding speech	No	26	19.26%
Discomfort with intense noise	Yes	42	31.11%
Discomfort with intense noise	No	93	68.89%
Dizziness	Yes	69	51.11%
Dizziness	No	66	48.89%

Variables		N	%
HHIE	No perception of handicap	44	32.59%
	Mild to moderate perception	62	45.93%
	Meaningful perception	29	21.48%
Faces Scale	Lousy	9	6.67%
	Bad	15	11.11%
	Average	57	42.22%
	Good	40	29.63%
	Excellent	14	10.37%

Variables		N	%
Hearing	Normal Hearing	15	11.11%
	Mild Hearing Loss	41	30.37%
	Moderate HL	67	49.63%
	Severe HL	8	93%
	Very severe HL	4	2.96%
Laterality	Unilateral	10	7.40%
	Bilateral	110	81.49%
	NA	15	11.11%
Settings	Downward	110	81.49%
Settings	Horizontal	25	18.51%
Symmetry Curve	Symmetrical	93	68.42%
Symmetry Curve	Asymmetric	42	31.58%
SRPI	Changed	72	53.33%
SRPI	Normal	63	46.67%
MEEM	Changed	30	22.22%
MEEM	Normal	105	77.78%

Variables\HHIE		No perception of handicap		Mild to moderate perception		Meaningful perception		P-value
Variables\HHIE		N	%	N	%	N	%	P-value
Hearing	Normal Hearing	9	20.45%	4	6.45%	2	6.90%	0.000² 2 Simulated chi-square
	Mild Hearing Loss	22	50.00%	12	19.35%	7	24.14%
	Moderate HL	11	25.00%	43	69.35%	13	44.83%
	Severe HL	2	4.55%	2	3.23%	4	13.79%
	Very severe HL	0	0.00%	1	1.61%	3	10.34%
SRPI	Changed	12	27.27%	40	64.52%	20	68.97%	0.000¹ 1 Qui-square;
SRPI	Normal	32	72.73%	22	35.48%	9	31.03%	0.000¹ 1 Qui-square;

Variables\MEEM - Category		Changed		Normal		P-value
Variables\MEEM - Category		N	%	N	%	P-value
Hearing	Normal Hearing	1	3.30%	14	13.30%	0.537¹ 1 Qui-square;
	Mild Hearing Loss	10	33.30%	31	29.50%
	Moderate HL	15	50.00%	52	49.50%
	Severe HL	3	10.00%	5	4.80%
	Very severe HL	1	3.30%	3	2.90%
HHIE	No perception of handicap	9	30.00%	35	33.30%	0.930² 2 Simulated Chi-square
	Mild to moderate perception	14	46.70%	48	45.70%
	Meaningful perception	7	23.30%	22	21.00%

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E-mail: revista@codas.org.br

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[1] Conflict of interests:

nothing to declare.