Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33168388›Full record

ArticleThe American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry2021

Association of Hearing Loss With Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment.

Alexander S Kim, Emmanuel E Garcia Morales, Halima Amjad, Valerie T Cotter, Frank R Lin, Constantine G Lyketsos, Milap A Nowrangi, Sara K Mamo, Nicholas S Reed, Sevil Yasar and 2 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease: Bridging mechanisms, management, and emerging innovations.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Hearing Loss, Hearing Aid Use, and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms Among Persons Living With Dementia: Findings From NACC.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Hearing Impairment and Cognition in an Aging World.Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO · 2021
    Review
  16. Hearing Loss, Psychiatric Symptoms, and Cognitive Decline: An Increasingly Important Triad in Older Adults.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2021
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Alexander S KimJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine (ASK), Baltimore, MD; Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health (ASK, EEGM, FRL, NSR, ESO, CLN), Baltimore, MD.
Emmanuel E Garcia MoralesCochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health (ASK, EEGM, FRL, NSR, ESO, CLN), Baltimore, MD.
Halima AmjadDivision of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology (HA, SY, ESO), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
Valerie T CotterJohns Hopkins University School of Nursing (VTC, ESO), Baltimore, MD.
Frank R LinCochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health (ASK, EEGM, FRL, NSR, ESO, CLN), Baltimore, MD; Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (FRL, CLN), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
Constantine G LyketsosDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (CGL, MAN, ESO), Johns Hopkins Bayview and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
Milap A NowrangiDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (CGL, MAN, ESO), Johns Hopkins Bayview and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
Sara K MamoDepartment of Communication Disorders (SKM), University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MD.
Nicholas S ReedCochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health (ASK, EEGM, FRL, NSR, ESO, CLN), Baltimore, MD; Department of Epidemiology (NSR), Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.
Sevil YasarDivision of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology (HA, SY, ESO), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
Esther S OhCochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health (ASK, EEGM, FRL, NSR, ESO, CLN), Baltimore, MD; Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology (HA, SY, ESO), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (VTC, ESO), Baltimore, MD; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (CGL, MAN, ESO), Johns Hopkins Bayview and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
Carrie L NiemanCochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health (ASK, EEGM, FRL, NSR, ESO, CLN), Baltimore, MD; Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (FRL, CLN), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Electronic address: cnieman1@jhmi.edu.
Johns Hopkins University · USJohns Hopkins Medicine · USCochlear (United States) · USJohns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center · USUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst · US

Funding

Research Education ComponentP30AG066507 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Corinne Pettigrew · 2020 to 2026
$29.3M
Novel Blood Biomarker of Alzheimer's disease Using Oral Glucose ToleranceR01AG057725 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI OH, ESTHER SEUNGHEE · 2017 to 2021
$2.4M
Accessible Hearing Care for Reduction of Disruptive Behaviors and Caregiver Burden in DementiaK23AG059900 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI NIEMAN, CARRIE L · 2018 to 2022
$992k
Speech understanding ability and communication intervention for persons with age-related hearing loss and mild cognitive impairment or dementiaK23DC016855 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST · PI MAMO, SARA K. · 2018 to 2022
$721k
NIA NIH HHS K23 AG059900NIA NIH HHS P30 AG066507NIA NIH HHS R01 AG057725NIDCD NIH HHS K23 DC016855
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in persons with dementia (PWD) are common and can lead to poor outcomes, such as institutionalization and mortality, and may be exacerbated by sensory loss. Hearing loss is also highly prevalent among older adults, including PWD.

objectiveThis study investigated the association between hearing loss and NPS among community- dwelling patients from a tertiary memory care center. DESIGN, SETTING, AND

participantsParticipants of this cross-sectional study were patients followed at the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer's Treatment Center who underwent audiometric testing during routine clinical practice between October 2014 and January 2017. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Included measures were scores on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia.

resultsParticipants (n = 101) were on average 76 years old, mostly female and white, and had a mean Mini-Mental State Examination score of 23. We observed a positive association between audiometric hearing loss and the number of NPS (b = 0.7 per 10 dB; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.2, 1.1; t = 2.86; p = 0.01; df = 85), NPS severity (b = 1.3 per 10 dB; 95% CI: 0.4, 2.5; t = 2.13; p = 0.04; df = 80), and depressive symptom severity (b = 1.5 per 10 dB; 95% CI: 0.4, 2.5; t = 2.83; p = 0.01; df = 89) after adjustment for demographic and clinical characteristics. Additionally, the use of hearing aids was inversely associated with the number of NPS (b = -2.09; 95% CI -3.44, -0.75; t = -3.10; p = 0.003; df = 85), NPS severity (b = -3.82; 95% CI -7.19, -0.45; t = -2.26; p = 0.03; df = 80), and depressive symptom severity (b = -2.94; 95% CI: -5.93, 0.06; t = 1.70; p = 0.05; df = 89).

conclusionAmong patients at a memory clinic, increasing severity of hearing loss was associated with a greater number of NPS, more severe NPS, and more severe depressive symptoms, while hearing aid use was associated with fewer NPS, lower severity, and less severe depressive symptoms. Identifying and addressing hearing loss may be a promising, low-risk, non-pharmacological intervention in preventing and treating NPS.

Indexed as

Cognitive DysfunctionHearing AidsHearing LossAgedCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleNeuropsychological Testscognitive impairmentdementiahearing careHearing lossneuropsychiatric symptoms

Identifiers

PMID33168388
PMCPMC8044263
OpenAlexW3093390992

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.