{
  "abstract": "Objectives We compared associations between self-reported and HearCheck screening device measures of hearing difficulty with subsequent general and domain-specific cognitive function in a population-based sample of older English adults.Design Observational cohort study.Setting Population-based sample of older adults in wave 7 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) in 2014/15 and its Healthy Cognitive Ageing Project (HCAP) in 2018.Participants N=1119 adults aged ≥62 years.Primary outcome measures Factor scores for general cognitive function and domains of memory, language, orientation and executive function were derived from the HCAP neuropsychological test battery (mean of 0 and SD of 1 for each). Hearing difficulty was assessed using a self-reported 5-point Likert-type scale and the HearCheck screening device, which administered a series of six tones in each ear.Results According to the HearCheck device, 48% of participants had a mild or moderate-to-severe hearing difficulty, while 25% self-reported fair or poor hearing. In multivariable-adjusted, population-weighted linear regression models, hearing difficulty identified via HearCheck was associated with worse general cognitive function (β=−0.34 SD units; 95% CI −0.60 to –0.07 for moderate-to-severe hearing difficulty vs good hearing) as well as worse function in domains of memory, language and executive function, each with a dose-response relationship. Self-reported hearing difficulty was not associated with general or domain-specific cognitive function.Conclusions Peripheral hearing ability, as captured by the HearCheck screening device, may have stronger relevance for later-life cognitive outcomes than the broader construct of perceived hearing difficulty in one’s daily environment that is captured by a self-reported measure.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Brendan Q O’Shea"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Rebecca A Milan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Alden L Gross"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Danielle S Powell"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Lindsay C Kobayashi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Andrew Steptoe"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Do self-reported and objective hearing measures similarly relate to general and domain-specific cognition? Observational cohort study of older adults in England",
  "uid": "b2c9f13d-21e0-5956-9e4e-246c04cc725b"
}