title: Visual and hearing impairment in elderly patients hospitalized for rehabilitation following hip fracture.
abstract: In a prospective study, we assessed the prevalence and significance of visual and hearing impairment in 896 patients who were hospitalized for rehabilitation following hip fracture. Visual impairment was defined as visual acuity equal to worse than 6/60 in the better of the two eyes. Hearing impairment was defined as mean decibel level equal to or higher than 60 in the better of the two ears. Visual impairment was found in 210 patients (23.4%) and hearing impairment was found in 231 patients (25.8%). Simultaneous visual and hearing impairment was seen in 72 patients (8%). In univariate analysis, the absolute efficacy of rehabilitation was significantly lower in patients with visual impairment compared to those without (p = 0.00001) and in patients with hearing impairment compared to those without (p = 0.002). However, in multivariate analysis, visual, but not hearing, impairment was found to be independently associated with the absolute efficacy of rehabilitation (p = 0.001). In light of these results, we propose that in the first phase of rehabilitation, patients' visual acuity needs to be optimized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Soroka Medical Center and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel 84101. Lieberma@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Devora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lieberman
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Friger
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lieberman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*