Clinical Interventions in Aging (May 2020)

Hearing Loss and Physical Functioning Among Adults with Heart Failure: Data from NHANES

  • Cosiano MF,
  • Jannat-Khah D,
  • Lin FR,
  • Goyal P,
  • McKee M,
  • Sterling MR

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 635 – 643

Abstract

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Michael F Cosiano,1 Deanna Jannat-Khah,2 Frank R Lin,3 Parag Goyal,2 Michael McKee,4 Madeline R Sterling2 1Weill Cornell Medical College, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 3Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 4Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USACorrespondence: Madeline R SterlingDepartment of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USATel +1646-962-5029Fax +1646-962-4610Email [email protected] Twitter @mad_stersBackground: Hearing loss (HL) is associated with poor physical functioning among older adults, yet this association has not been examined in heart failure (HF), a disease in which both hearing loss and poor physical functioning are highly prevalent. We investigated whether this association exists in HF since HL represents a potentially modifiable risk factor for poor physical functioning.Methods: We studied adults aged ≥ 70 years with self-reported HF in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). HL was assessed and categorized using pure-tone averages. Activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental ADLs (IADLs), leisure and social activities (LSA), lower extremity mobility (LEM), and general physical activity (GPA) were assessed. Multiple imputation was used to examine the association.Results: One hundred eighty-one participants comprised our population. Those with ≥ moderate HL had more difficulty with ADLs (37.0% vs 24.0%, p=0.02), IADLs (36.0% vs 23.0%, p=0.05), and LEM (37.3% vs 20.0%, p=0.009), compared to participants with none or mild HL. In multivariable models, ≥ moderate HL was significantly associated with difficulty in physical functioning across four of the five domains: ADLs: PR: 1.71 (95% CI: 1.07– 2.72); IADLs: PR: 1.71 (1.24– 2.34); LEM: PR: 1.51 (1.01– 2.26); and GPA: PR: 1.19 (1.00– 1.41).Conclusion: Among older adults with HF, moderate or greater HL was associated with a higher prevalence of difficulty with ADLs, IADLs, and LEM, compared to mild or no HL.Keywords: hearing loss, physical functioning, heart failure, prevalence

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