Dementia Risk 90 Percent Higher in Older Adults With Dual Sensory Impairment

A study in Alzheimer's and Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Disease Monitoring found that older adults with both hearing and visual impairment have a nearly 90 percent higher risk for developing dementia, reports United Press International . The researchers enrolled more than 2,000 people 65 and older, and monitored them for eight years. Nearly 23 percent of the cohort either had hearing or visual impairment and just over 5 percent had dual sensory impairment. The latter condition was associated with an 86 percent higher risk for dementia compared with no sensory impairments. Moreover, 28.8 percent of those with dual sensory impairment were diagnosed with dementia, versus 16.9 percent of those with one sensory impairment and 14.3 percent of those with no sensory impairment. Participants with dual sensory impairment also were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those without. "Evaluation of vision and hearing in older adults may predict who will develop dementia and Alzheimer's," said Phillip H. Hwang at the University of Washington School of Public Health.