To clarify the impact of hearing aids on mental health, social engagement, cognitive function, an... more To clarify the impact of hearing aids on mental health, social engagement, cognitive function, and physical health outcomes in older adults with hearing impairment. We assessed hearing handicap (hearing handicap inventory for the elderly; HHIE-S), cognition (mini mental state exam, trail making, auditory verbal learning, digit-symbol substitution, verbal fluency, incidence of cognitive impairment), physical health (SF-12 physical component, basic and instrumental activities of daily living, mortality), social engagement (hours per week spent in solitary activities), and mental health (SF-12 mental component) at baseline, five years prior to baseline, and five and 11 years after baseline. Community-dwelling older adults with hearing impairment (N = 666) from the epidemiology of hearing loss study cohort. There were no significant differences between hearing-aid users and non-users in cognitive, social engagement, or mental health outcomes at any time point. Aided HHIE-S was significa...
Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists), 2014
Vision and hearing impairments are known to increase in middle age. In this study we describe the... more Vision and hearing impairments are known to increase in middle age. In this study we describe the prevalence of vision impairment and dual sensory impairment in UK adults aged 40-69 years in a very large and recently ascertained data set. The associations between vision impairment, age, sex, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity are reported. This research was conducted using the UK Biobank Resource, with subsets of UK Biobank data analysed with respect to self-report of eye problems and glasses use. Better-eye visual acuity with habitually worn refractive correction was assessed with a logMAR chart (n = 116,682). Better-ear speech reception threshold was measured with an adaptive speech in noise test, the Digit Triplet Test (n = 164,770). Prevalence estimates were weighted with respect to UK 2001 Census data. Prevalence of mild visual impairment (VA >0.1 logMAR (6/7.5, 20/25) and ≥0.48 (6/18, 20/60)) and low vision (VA >0.48 (6/18, 20/60) and ≥1.3 (6/120, 20/400)) was estimated...
Healthy hearing depends on sensitive ears and adequate brain processing. Essential aspects of bot... more Healthy hearing depends on sensitive ears and adequate brain processing. Essential aspects of both hearing and cognition decline with advancing age, but it is largely unknown how one influences the other. The current standard measure of hearing, the pure-tone audiogram is not very cognitively demanding and does not predict well the most important yet challenging use of hearing, listening to speech in noisy environments. We analysed data from UK Biobank that asked 40-69 year olds about their hearing, and assessed their ability on tests of speech-in-noise hearing and cognition. About half a million volunteers were recruited through NHS registers. Respondents completed 'whole-body' testing in purpose-designed, community-based test centres across the UK. Objective hearing (spoken digit recognition in noise) and cognitive (reasoning, memory, processing speed) data were analysed using logistic and multiple regression methods. Speech hearing in noise declined exponentially with age...
The impact of dietary factors on tinnitus has received limited research attention, despite being ... more The impact of dietary factors on tinnitus has received limited research attention, despite being a considerable concern among people with tinnitus and clinicians. The objective was to examine the link between dietary factors and presence and severity of tinnitus. This study used the UK Biobank resource, a large cross-sectional study of adults aged 40-69. 171,722 eligible participants were asked questions specific to tinnitus (defined as noises such as ringing or buzzing in the head or ears). Dietary factors included portions of fruit and vegetables per day, weekly fish consumption (oily and non-oily), bread type, cups of caffeinated coffee per day, and avoidance of dairy, eggs, wheat and sugar. We controlled for lifestyle, noise exposure, hearing, personality and comorbidity factors. Persistent tinnitus, defined as present at least a lot of the time, was elevated with increased: (i) fruit/vegetable intake (OR = 1.01 per portion/day), (ii) bread (wholemeal/wholegrain, OR = 1.07; othe...
To clarify the impact of hearing aids on mental health, social engagement, cognitive function, an... more To clarify the impact of hearing aids on mental health, social engagement, cognitive function, and physical health outcomes in older adults with hearing impairment. We assessed hearing handicap (hearing handicap inventory for the elderly; HHIE-S), cognition (mini mental state exam, trail making, auditory verbal learning, digit-symbol substitution, verbal fluency, incidence of cognitive impairment), physical health (SF-12 physical component, basic and instrumental activities of daily living, mortality), social engagement (hours per week spent in solitary activities), and mental health (SF-12 mental component) at baseline, five years prior to baseline, and five and 11 years after baseline. Community-dwelling older adults with hearing impairment (N = 666) from the epidemiology of hearing loss study cohort. There were no significant differences between hearing-aid users and non-users in cognitive, social engagement, or mental health outcomes at any time point. Aided HHIE-S was significa...
Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists), 2014
Vision and hearing impairments are known to increase in middle age. In this study we describe the... more Vision and hearing impairments are known to increase in middle age. In this study we describe the prevalence of vision impairment and dual sensory impairment in UK adults aged 40-69 years in a very large and recently ascertained data set. The associations between vision impairment, age, sex, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity are reported. This research was conducted using the UK Biobank Resource, with subsets of UK Biobank data analysed with respect to self-report of eye problems and glasses use. Better-eye visual acuity with habitually worn refractive correction was assessed with a logMAR chart (n = 116,682). Better-ear speech reception threshold was measured with an adaptive speech in noise test, the Digit Triplet Test (n = 164,770). Prevalence estimates were weighted with respect to UK 2001 Census data. Prevalence of mild visual impairment (VA >0.1 logMAR (6/7.5, 20/25) and ≥0.48 (6/18, 20/60)) and low vision (VA >0.48 (6/18, 20/60) and ≥1.3 (6/120, 20/400)) was estimated...
Healthy hearing depends on sensitive ears and adequate brain processing. Essential aspects of bot... more Healthy hearing depends on sensitive ears and adequate brain processing. Essential aspects of both hearing and cognition decline with advancing age, but it is largely unknown how one influences the other. The current standard measure of hearing, the pure-tone audiogram is not very cognitively demanding and does not predict well the most important yet challenging use of hearing, listening to speech in noisy environments. We analysed data from UK Biobank that asked 40-69 year olds about their hearing, and assessed their ability on tests of speech-in-noise hearing and cognition. About half a million volunteers were recruited through NHS registers. Respondents completed 'whole-body' testing in purpose-designed, community-based test centres across the UK. Objective hearing (spoken digit recognition in noise) and cognitive (reasoning, memory, processing speed) data were analysed using logistic and multiple regression methods. Speech hearing in noise declined exponentially with age...
The impact of dietary factors on tinnitus has received limited research attention, despite being ... more The impact of dietary factors on tinnitus has received limited research attention, despite being a considerable concern among people with tinnitus and clinicians. The objective was to examine the link between dietary factors and presence and severity of tinnitus. This study used the UK Biobank resource, a large cross-sectional study of adults aged 40-69. 171,722 eligible participants were asked questions specific to tinnitus (defined as noises such as ringing or buzzing in the head or ears). Dietary factors included portions of fruit and vegetables per day, weekly fish consumption (oily and non-oily), bread type, cups of caffeinated coffee per day, and avoidance of dairy, eggs, wheat and sugar. We controlled for lifestyle, noise exposure, hearing, personality and comorbidity factors. Persistent tinnitus, defined as present at least a lot of the time, was elevated with increased: (i) fruit/vegetable intake (OR = 1.01 per portion/day), (ii) bread (wholemeal/wholegrain, OR = 1.07; othe...
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