ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2024
Types of sensory disability are differentially associated with mental health in older US adults over time.
Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Racial and ethnic differences in the associations of sensory impairments with cognition in older United States adults.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Effect of multi-domain interventions delivered via a smart-care platform on intrinsic capacity in older adults: a randomized controlled trial protocol.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Bipolar Disorder in Disabled Adult Spanish Population-Factors Associated with Self-Reported Health Status in These Subjects: Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundSensory disability in older adults is associated with increased rates of depressive symptoms and loneliness. Here, we examined the impact of hearing, vision, and olfaction disability on mental health outcomes in older US adults.
methodsWe studied respondents from the first three rounds (2005/6, 2010/11, and 2015/16) of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, a nationally representative, longitudinal study of older US adults. Sensory function was assessed by structured interviewer ratings (hearing and vision) and objective assessment (olfaction). Cox proportional hazards models and one degree of freedom tests for trend were utilized to analyze the relationships between sensory disability and self-rated mental health, frequent depressive symptoms, frequent perceived stress, frequent anxiety symptoms, and frequent loneliness symptoms over time, adjusting for demographics, health behaviors, comorbidities, and cognitive function.
resultsWe analyzed data from 3940 respondents over 10 years of follow-up. A greater number of sensory disabilities was associated with greater hazard of low self-rated mental health, frequent depressive symptoms, frequent perceived stress, and frequent loneliness symptoms over time (p ≤ 0.003, all). After adjusting for covariates, older adults with a greater number of sensory disabilities had greater hazard of low self-rated mental health (HR = 1.22, CI = [1.08, 1.38], p = 0.002) and loneliness symptoms (HR = 1.13, CI = [1.05, 1.22], p = 0.003) over time in our tests for trend. In our Cox proportional hazards model, older adults with vision disability had greater hazard of low self-rated mental health (HR = 1.34, 95% CI = [1.05, 1.72], p = 0.02) and loneliness symptoms (HR = 1.21, CI = [1.04, 1.41], p = 0.01).
conclusionsOlder US adults with greater numbers of sensory disabilities face worse subsequent mental health. Future longitudinal studies dissecting the relationship of all five classical senses will be helpful in further understanding how improving sensory function might improve mental health in older adults.
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