Prevalence Of Sensory Impairment Research Articles

Prevalence of sensory impairments in home care and long-term care using interRAI data from across Canada.

In the general population, sensory impairments increase markedly with age in adults over 60years of age. We estimated the prevalence of hearing loss only (HL), vision loss only (VL), and a combined impairment (i.e., dual sensory loss or DSL) in Canadians receiving home care (HC) or long-term care (LTC). Annual cross-sectional analyses were conducted using data collected with one of two interRAI assessments, one used for the HC setting (n = 2,667,199), and one for LTC (n = 1,538,691). Items in the assessments were used to measure three mutually exclusive outcomes: prevalence of VL only, HL only, or DSL. Trends over time for each outcome were examined using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. A negative binomial model was used to quantify the trends over time for each outcome while adjusting for age, sex and province. In HC, there was a significant trend in the rate for all three outcomes (p < 0.001), with a small increase (roughly 1%) each year. In HC, HL was the most prevalent sensory loss, with a rate of roughly 25% to 29%, while in LTC, DSL was the most prevalent impairment, at roughly 25% across multiple years of data. In both settings, roughly 60% of the sample was female. Males in both HC and LTC had a higher prevalence of HL compared to females, but the differences were very small (no more than 2% in any given year). The prevalence of HL differed by province after adjusting for year, age and sex. Compared to Ontario, Yukon Territory had a 26% higher rate of HL in HC (relative rate [RR] = 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.11, 1.43), but LTC residents in Newfoundland and Labrador had a significantly lower rate of HL (RR: 0.57; CI: 0.43, 0.76).When combined, approximately 60% of LTC residents, or HC clients, had at least one sensory impairment. Sensory impairments are highly prevalent in both HC and LTC, with small sex-related differences and some variation across Canadian provinces. The interRAI assessments provide clinicians with valuable information to inform care planning and can also be used to estimate the prevalence of these impairments in specific population sub-groups.

Prevalence of Concurrent Functional Vision and Hearing Impairment and Its Association with Dementia

Vision and hearing impairment are common and independently linked to dementia risk. Adults with concurrent vision and hearing impairment (dual sensory impairment, DSI) may be particularly at-risk. Data were from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) (2011–2018, N=7,562). Functional sensory impairments were self-reported (no impairment, vision only, hearing only, and DSI). We calculated age-specific prevalence of sensory impairments. Discrete time proportional hazards model with a complementary log-log link were used to assess 7-year dementia risk. Of 7,562 participants, overall prevalence of functional vision, hearing and DSI was 5.4%, 18.9% and 3.1%, respectively. DSI prevalence increased with age, impacting 1 in 7 adults ≥90 years. DSI was associated with a 50% increased 7-year dementia risk (adjusted hazard ratio 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.12–2.02) compared to no impairment. Sensory rehabilitative interventions for multiple impairments may be an avenue for consideration in efforts to reduce dementia risk.

Prevalence of sensory impairments, physical and intellectual disabilities, and mental health in children and young people with self/proxy-reported autism: Observational study of a whole country population.

This study investigated the comorbid conditions in a whole country population of children/young people aged 0-24 years with and without autism. Data were drawn from Scotland's Census 2011. We calculated the percentage with autism, their extent of comorbid conditions, odds ratio (with 95% confidence intervals) of autism predicting comorbidities, adjusted for age and gender, and odds ratio for age and gender predicting comorbidities within the cohort with autism. A total of 25,063/1,548,819 (1.6%) had autism: 19,880 (79.3%) males and 5183 (20.7%) females. Autism had an odds ratio of 5.4 (5.1-5.6) for predicting deafness/partial hearing loss, odds ratio of 8.9 (8.1-9.7) for blindness/partial sight loss, odds ratio of 49.7 (38.1-64.9) for intellectual disabilities, odds ratio of 15.7 (13.4-18.5) for mental health conditions, odds ratio of 15.8 (14.1-17.8) for physical disability and odds ratio of 3.9 (3.8-4.0) for other conditions. Females with autism were more likely to have each additional condition than males, including intellectual disabilities, suggesting they may have more severe autism than males and adding evidence that autism may be currently underdiagnosed in more intellectually able females. These conditions are disabling and have a significant impact on long-term quality of life; their coexistence with autism adds extra complexity. It is important to raise clinicians' awareness of this extent of comorbidity, and to have accurate prevalence data to plan prevention and intervention measures, and to follow health inequality trends.

Raising awareness of sensory impairment among community nurses: a brief intervention in a remote island setting.

The prevalence of sensory impairment that includes sight and/or hearing impairment is projected to rise worldwide given the strong correlation between sensory impairment, older age and the demographic structure of the global population. Sensory impairment and associated disability is thus a significant global health concern. The prevalence rates for sensory impairment in Scotland are significant: as more people live into older age and as the age distribution in rural areas is markedly different with a higher proportion of older people, the extent of sensory impairment in the rural population will increase proportionally. In rural areas community nurses have a key role in recognising sensory impairment and directing people to sensory services to reduce the debilitating impact of sensory impairment. However, there is limited evidence about the utility of educational interventions to enhance healthcare professionals' knowledge, skills and attitudes about sensory impairment and subsequent impact on referral practices. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a brief educational intervention with community nurses. The educational intervention was a training workshop that included simulation practice, information on assessment and referral pathways. The study was conducted in a remote island community health setting in the Western Isles of Scotland. The study evaluated nurses' perceptions of the training on their knowledge, attitudes and practice. Mixed method, longitudinal design was implemented in three phases. Phase 1 was a pre- and post-workshop questionnaire, phase 2 a postal questionnaire 3 months post-workshop and phase 3 a qualitative focus group interview 6 months post-workshop. Kirkpatrick's model of training evaluation provided a framework for data evaluation. A total of 41 community based healthcare professionals who were mostly nurses participated in the study. Participants described increased awareness of the potential for their patients to have a sensory impairment, greater understanding and empathy with patients who experience sensory impairment, more robust patient assessment to identify impairment, and increased likelihood to inform of, and refer to, sensory services. Community nurses are often well placed to identity disabilities and patients at risk of injury because of sensory impairment. Participation in simulation training can help to develop greater awareness of the impact of that sensory impairment. Knowledge of specialist services will increase the opportunities for referral to services and impact positively on the lives of older people living in rural settings. Provision of accessible education on sensory impairment for health and social care professionals can enhance care delivery to older people.

Longitudinal associations between dual sensory impairment and everyday competence among older adults

Given the prevalence of sensory impairment in older adults, the relationship of sensory impairment to everyday competence among older adults is gaining attention. Dual impairment, or concurrent impairments of vision and hearing, affects anywhere from 5% to 21% of older adults. Using Longitudinal Study on Aging data, we examined the longitudinal associations of self-reported dual sensory impairment with everyday competence in self-reported activities of daily living among adults aged 70 and older (N = 5,151). Self-reported dual sensory impairment was associated with higher levels of self-reported functional disability at baseline and at the 2-year follow-up interview, but the effect gradually diminished over time. However, self-reported dual sensory impairment was not associated with greater levels of self-reported disability as compared with self-reported visual impairment alone. Findings highlight the importance of vision and aural rehabilitation programs for older adults to mitigate the loss of competence in later life due to sensory impairment.

Vision and Hearing Impairment in Aged Care Clients

Purpose: To determine the frequency of sensory impairments among aged care clients. Methods: We examined 188 persons aged 65–99 years being evaluated for aged care services at a geriatric assessment center, west of Sydney, Australia. Visual acuity was measured using a LogMAR chart. Visual impairment was defined in the better eye: mild < 20/40 to ≥ 20/80, moderate < 20/80 to ≥ 20/200, and severe < 20/200. Hearing function was assessed by portable pure-tone air-conduction audiometry. Hearing loss was defined using average hearing thresholds in the better ear: mild > 25 to ≤ 40 decibels (dB), moderate > 40 to ≤ 60dB, and severe > 60dB. Results: Vision, hearing, or both were randomly tested in 96, 93, and 49 aged care clients, respectively. Vision impairment was found in 30.2% of clients. Distance vision could be improved with pinhole in 16.7% of 84 clients with presenting VA < 20/20. Moderate to severe hearing loss was present in 50.5%. Combined sensory impairment was detected in 22.5% of persons having both tests. The age-standardized proportions with vision impairment was 25.6%, higher than the rate (17.4%) found in the Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES) community population, but lower than the 37.7% prevalence reported from the BMES nursing home sample. Hearing impairment was also more common in aged care clients (28.1% vs 17.5%). Conclusions: This study suggests a high prevalence of sensory impairment among older persons transitioning from independent community living to institutionalized care.