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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Examination of the relationship among hearing impairment, linguistic communication, mood and social engagement of residents in complex continuing-care facilities | | Author(s) | Peter Brink, Michael Stones |
| Journal title | The Gerontologist, vol 47, no 5, October 2007 |
| Pages | pp 633-641 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Hearing Impairment ; Cognitive processes ; Communication skills ; Depression ; Engagement ; Residents [care homes] ; Correlation ; Canada. |
| Annotation | Earlier evidence has not been conclusive about whether hearing loss in older people is associated with mood (i.e. depressive symptoms and anhedonia) and social engagement (i.e. reduced psychosocial involvement and reduced activity levels). If hearing impairment results in poor mood and lower levels of social engagement, then remedying hearing impairment might result in higher quality of life. This study aimed to determine whether functional hearing impairment in continuing care residents is associated with mood and social engagement. It included all residents in Ontario admitted to complex continuing care facilities between April 2000 and March 2001. Through the Canadian Institute of Health Information, the authors gathered health information by using the Minimum Data Set 2.0 questionnaire (MDS 2.0). The results were consistent with the hypothesised direct effect of functional hearing impairment on mood. Path analyses showed that hearing impairment impairs linguistic communication and that impaired linguistic communication is related to lower levels of mood and social engagement. This study adds to the literature supporting an association between hearing impairment and mood. The study also suggests that questionnaires used to assess hearing such as the MDS 2.0 are suitable for early detection of hearing problems and may be used to refer residents to audiology services. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-080407205 A |
| Classmark | BV: DA: UO: ENR: DN: KX: 49: 7S |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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