Association of Hearing Impairment and Emotional Vitality in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES To better understand the potential impact of hearing impairment (HI) and hearing aid use on emotional vitality and mental health in older adults. METHOD We investigated the cross-sectional association of HI with emotional vitality in 1,903 adults aged 76-85 years in the Health ABC study adjusted for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors. Hearing was defined by the speech frequency pure tone average (no impairment < 25 dB, mild impairment 25-40 dB, and moderate or greater impairment > 40 dB). Emotional vitality was defined as having a high sense of personal mastery, happiness, low depressive symptomatology, and low anxiety. RESULTS Compared with individuals with no HI, participants with moderate or greater HI had a 23% lower odds of emotional vitality (odds ratio [OR] = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-0.99). Hearing aid use was not associated with better emotional vitality (OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.81-1.20). DISCUSSION HI is associated with lower odds of emotional vitality in older adults. Further studies are needed to examine the longitudinal impact of HI on mental health and well-being.

[1]  David W. Kern,et al.  Sensory function: insights from Wave 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. , 2014, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[2]  J. Betz,et al.  Association Between Hearing Impairment and Self‐Reported Difficulty in Physical Functioning , 2014, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[3]  Howard J Hoffman,et al.  Hearing impairment associated with depression in US adults, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2010. , 2014, JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery.

[4]  Ichiro Kawachi,et al.  The Association between Hearing Loss and Social Isolation in Older Adults , 2014, Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

[5]  J. Betz,et al.  Hearing Loss and Depression in Older Adults , 2013, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[6]  W. Taylor,et al.  The vascular depression hypothesis: mechanisms linking vascular disease with depression , 2013, Molecular Psychiatry.

[7]  N. Mayo,et al.  Emotional vitality: concept of importance for rehabilitation. , 2013, Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

[8]  Luigi Ferrucci,et al.  Hearing loss and cognitive decline in older adults: questions and answers , 2014, Aging Clinical and Experimental Research.

[9]  K. Sousa,et al.  Isolation: a concept analysis. , 2013, Nursing forum.

[10]  Luigi Ferrucci,et al.  Hearing loss prevalence in the United States. , 2011, Archives of internal medicine.

[11]  S. Rubin,et al.  Race and Sex Differences in Age‐Related Hearing Loss: The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study , 2005, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[12]  Kristian Tambs,et al.  Moderate Effects of Hearing Loss on Mental Health and Subjective Well-Being: Results From the Nord-Trøndelag Hearing Loss Study , 2004, Psychosomatic medicine.

[13]  T. Strandberg,et al.  Positive life orientation as a predictor of 10-year outcome in an aged population. , 2004, Journal of clinical epidemiology.

[14]  S. Volpato,et al.  Emotional Vitality and Change in Lower Extremity Function After Acute Medical Illness and Hospitalization , 2003, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[15]  L. Ferrucci,et al.  Measuring higher level physical function in well-functioning older adults: expanding familiar approaches in the Health ABC study. , 2001, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences.

[16]  Luigi Ferrucci,et al.  The Protective Effect of Emotional Vitality on Adverse Health Outcomes in Disabled Older Women , 2000, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[17]  R. Veenhoven,et al.  Stability of Life-satisfaction over Time , 2000 .

[18]  L. Ferrucci,et al.  Emotional Vitality Among Disabled Older Women: The Women's Health and Aging Study , 1998, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[19]  L. Pearlin,et al.  The structure of coping. , 1978, Journal of health and social behavior.

[20]  H. Kelman,et al.  Comfort, effectiveness, and self-awareness as criteria of improvement in psychotherapy. , 1954, The American journal of psychiatry.