[Geriatric syndrome: slightly reduced visual and hearing impairments reduce activities daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL) in the community-dwelling elderly].
Although it is well-known that moderate and severe visual and/or hearing impairments in elderly persons reduce their activities of daily living (ADL) and their quality of life (QOL), most elderly people, their caregivers and even nurses/doctors do not care about those disturbances considering them as normal aging. We studied 1,874 community-dwelling elderly (813 men, 1,061 women, mean age; 76+/-9 yrs.) and demonstrated that apparently healthy older persons with slightly reduced function clarified by self-reported questionnaires do not only have lower scores of ADL and VAS (QOL), but also higher score of GDS 15, that is, they have a more depressive state, compared to those without visual and/or hearing impairments. Therefore, because visual and/or hearing functional impairments in the elderly, even if slight, affect their ADL impairments, QOL and mood, we should assess whether the older persons have visual/hearing disturbance(s) in functional screening and should give them some kinds of assistance to succeed in achieving on enjoyable elderly life.
Nishinaga
Masanori
M
Department of Medicine and Geriatrics, Kochi Medical School.
Chi
Sunggi
S
Kazusa
Yuri
Y
Takata
Jun
J
Doi
Yoshinori
Y
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005853:Geriatrics; D034381:Hearing Loss; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013577:Syndrome; D015354:Vision, Low