Sensory Deprivation in the Elderly Population of the Republic of Serbia: Sociodemographic Factors as Key to Understanding Sensory Challenges
-
Andrea Zoran Mirkovic
,
Svetlana Radevic
,
Nikola Savic
,
Nela Djonovic
,
Sanja Ilic
,
Jovana Radovanovic
,
Snezana Corovic
,
Snezana Radovanovic
Abstract
Background: Sensory impairments, notably hearing loss (68% in those aged 70+) and vision loss (24%-50%), are prevalent in older individuals. We investigated the correlation between visual and hearing impairments in older adults, considering sociodemographic factors, mental health, and social support.
Methods: The study is part of The Serbian 2019 National Health Survey, conducted in 2019. Questionnaires were used as the research tool, following the methodology of the European Health Survey. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess predictors of visual and hearing impairments.
Results: Findings revealed a higher prevalence of vision difficulties among women (P< 0.001) and a significant reduction in reported vision issues with increased social support (P< 0.001). Higher education, particularly at the doctoral level, demonstrated a strong protective effect against hearing difficulties (P< 0.001).
Conclusion: Education at the doctoral level provides significant protection against sensory difficulties, especially in the case of hearing loss, while a high level of social support positively influences the reduction of vision-related problems. Further research is necessary for a better understanding of relationships and the development of effective support strategies for the elderly population with vision and hearing impairments.
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26. Hämäläinen A, Phillips N,Wittich W, et al (2019). Sensory-cognitive associations are only weakly mediated or moderated by social factors in the Canadian Longi-tudinal Study on Aging. Sci Rep, 9(1): 19660.
27. Yu K, Wu S, Jang Y, et al (2021). Longitudi-nal assessment of the relationships be-tween geriatric conditions and loneli-ness. J Am Med Dir Assoc, 22(5): 1107-1113.e1.
28. Heyl V, Wahl H-W, Mollenkopf H (2005). Visual capacity, out-of-home activities and emotional well-being in old age: Basic relations and contextual variation. Social Indicators Research, 74(1): 159–189.
29. Mick P, Kawachi I, Lin FR (2014). The as-sociation between hearing loss and so-cial isolation in older adults. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 150(3): 378–384.
30. Shukla A, Harper M, Pedersen E, et al (2020). Hearing Loss, loneliness, and so-cial isolation: A systematic review. Oto-laryngol Head Neck Surg, 162(5): 622-633.
2. Economic Policy Committee (2009). The 2009 ageing report: economic and budg-etary projections for the EU-27 Member States (2008-2060).
3. WHO. Ageing and Health Report. (ac-cessed 28.7.2023). Available online:https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health
4. Nguyen VC, Moon S, Oh E, et al (2022). Factors associated with functional limi-tations in daily living among older adults in Korea: A cross-sectional study. Int J Public Health, 67:1605155.
5. Burton MJ, Ramke J, Marques AP, et al (2021). The Lancet Global Health com-mission on Global Eye Health: vision beyond 2020.Lancet Glob Health, 9(4): e489–e551.
6. Ge S, McConnell ES, Wu B, et al (2021). Longitudinal association between hear-ing loss, vision loss, dual sensory loss, and cognitive decline. J Am Geriatr Soc, 69(3): 644-650.
7. Guo R, Li X, Sun M, et al (2023). Vision im-pairment, hearing impairment and func-tional limitations of subjective cognitive decline: a population-based study. BMC Geriatr, 23(1): 230.
8. Zhang S, Wang Q, Wang X, et al (2022). Longitudinal relationshipbetween senso-ry impairments and depressive symp-toms in older adults: The mediating role of functional limitation. Depress Anxiety, 39(8-9): 624-632.
9. Zhao X, Zhou Y, Wei K, et al (2021). Asso-ciations of sensory impairment and cognitive function in middle-aged and older Chinese population: The China health and retirement longitudinal study. J Glob Health, 11: 08008.
10. Maharani A, Dawes P, Nazroo J, et al (2018). Visual and hearing impairments are associated with cognitive decline in older people. Age Ageing, 47(4): 575-581.
11. Parada H, Laughlin GA, Yang M, et al (2021). Dual impairments in visual and hearing acuity and age-related cognitive decline in older adults from the Rancho Bernardo Study of Healthy Aging. Age Ageing, 50(4): 1268-1276.
12. Silverstein SM, Sörensen S, Sunkara A, et al (2021). Association of vision loss and depressive symptomatology in older adults assessed for ocular health in sen-ior living facilities. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt, 41(5): 985-995.
13. Mayro EL, Murchison AP, Hark LA, et al (2021). Prevalence of depressive symp-toms and associated factors in an urban, ophthalmic population. Eur J Ophthalmol, 31: 740–747.
14. Marques T, Marques FD, Miguéis A (2022). Age-related hearing loss, depression and auditory amplification: a randomized clinical trial. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol, 279(3): 1317-1321.
15. Yu A, Liljas A (2019). The relationship-between self-reported sensory impair-ments and psychosocial health in older adults: a 4-year follow-up study using the English longitudinal study of ageing. Public Health, 169: 140–148.
16. Sun W, Matsuoka T, Imai A, et al (2021). Ef-fects of hearing impairment, quality of life and pain on depressive symptoms in elderly people: A cross-sectional study. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 18(22): 12265.
17. Wang Q, Zhang S, Wang Y, et al (2022). Dual sensory impairment as a predictor of loneliness and isolation in older adults: National cohort study. JMIR Pub-lic Health Surveill, 8(11): e39314.
18. Igarashi A, Aida J, Yamamoto T, et al (2021). Associations between vision, hearing and tooth loss and social inter-actions: the JAGES cross-sectional study. J Epidemiol Community Health, 75(2): 171-176.
19. Yorgason JB, Tanner CT, Richardson S, et al (2022). The longitudinal association of late-life visual and hearing difficulty and cognitive function: The role of social isolation. J Aging Health, 34(6-8): 765-774.
20. European Health Interview Survey (EHIS wave 3) - Methodological manual, Euro-stat, 2018.
21. Jankovic J, Simic S, Marinkovic J (2010). In-equalities that hurt: demographic, socio-economic and health status inequalities in the utilization of health services in Serbia. Eur J Public Health, 20(4):389–396.
22. Joksimović Krstić K (PhD thesis). Trajecto-ries of coping with the death of a spouse in old age–a prospective diary study. University of NoviSad, Serbia; 2019.
23. Rong H, Lai X, Jing R, et al (2020). Associa-tion of sensory impairments with cogni-tive decline and depression among old-er adults in China. JAMA Netw Open, 3(9): e2014186.
24. Fuller-Thomson E, Nowaczynski A, Mac-Neil A (2022). The association between hearing impairment, vision impairment, dual sensory impairment, and serious cognitive impairment: findings from a population-based study of 5.4 million older adults. J Alzheimers Dis Rep, 6(1): 211-222.
25. Bauer MA, Zanella ÂK, Filho IG, et al (2017). Profile and prevalence of hear-ing complaints in the elderly. Braz J Oto-rhinolaryngol, 83(5): 523-529.
26. Hämäläinen A, Phillips N,Wittich W, et al (2019). Sensory-cognitive associations are only weakly mediated or moderated by social factors in the Canadian Longi-tudinal Study on Aging. Sci Rep, 9(1): 19660.
27. Yu K, Wu S, Jang Y, et al (2021). Longitudi-nal assessment of the relationships be-tween geriatric conditions and loneli-ness. J Am Med Dir Assoc, 22(5): 1107-1113.e1.
28. Heyl V, Wahl H-W, Mollenkopf H (2005). Visual capacity, out-of-home activities and emotional well-being in old age: Basic relations and contextual variation. Social Indicators Research, 74(1): 159–189.
29. Mick P, Kawachi I, Lin FR (2014). The as-sociation between hearing loss and so-cial isolation in older adults. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 150(3): 378–384.
30. Shukla A, Harper M, Pedersen E, et al (2020). Hearing Loss, loneliness, and so-cial isolation: A systematic review. Oto-laryngol Head Neck Surg, 162(5): 622-633.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 53 No 12 (2024) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| Keywords | ||
| Sensory limitations Functional limitations Vision loss Hearing loss Aging | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Mirkovic A, Radevic S, Savic N, Djonovic N, Ilic S, Radovanovic J, Corovic S, Radovanovic S. Sensory Deprivation in the Elderly Population of the Republic of Serbia: Sociodemographic Factors as Key to Understanding Sensory Challenges. Iran J Public Health. 2024;53(12):2749-2758.
