Presbycusis and Dementia - Observational Study with Sample Collection

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.15925722230910

• Palavras-chave: Presbycusis, Cognitive Ability, Memory, Hearing Loss

• Keywords: Presbycusis, Cognitive Ability, Memory, Hearing Loss

• Abstract:

  Introduction: In Portugal in 2019, about 5,676 people died due to mental and behavioral disorders and regarding diseases of the nervous system and sense organs, which includes hearing loss, the number of deaths is about 4190, in both countries. genres. Presbycusis is an age-related hearing loss and its main characteristic is the difficulty in understanding words. Dementia is the generic term to encompass several diseases that affect cognitive abilities such as memory, which interfere with a person's behavior and more significantly with their ability to preserve their activities of daily living. This study is necessary to increase people's awareness of the increased prevalence of these two pathologies. Thus, it is of great relevance to the field of Audiology as it allows for the creation of a bridge between this field and that of Neuropsychology.

  Goals: The main objective of this study is to understand the relationship between age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) and the decline of cognitive functions, particularly memory.

  Methods: The methodology chosen for this project is observational, quantitative, descriptive, exploratory, bibliographic and field, and is transversal and prospective. The sample is composed of 21 individuals (7 males and 14 females), aged between 60 and 70 years, who mobilized to undergo audiological examinations at the Hospital das Forças Armadas – Polo Porto, or at the Centro Hospitalar. do Baixo Vouga, from May 1 to July 2, 2021. The assessment included the items: Tonal Audiometry and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (cognitive instrument). For this observational study, several variables were defined for the statistical analysis of the data obtained.

  Results: With the analysis of Figure 1, it can be seen that in the Moderate grades I and II a normal value of MoCA is not observed, however in the grades with less hearing loss (Normal and Mild) a value within the normal range is observed. With the interpretation of the graphs in Figures 2 and 3, it can be concluded that there is a higher prevalence of hearing loss in males (85.72%) than in females (78.57%). The analysis of the graphs in Figures 4 and 5 shows that there is no prevalence of mild cognitive impairment by gender, since the percentage is exactly the same as 71.43%.

  Conclusions: The results obtained show that presbycusis and changes in cognitive functions are related. It has been shown that the greater the degree of hearing loss, the greater the probability of alteration in cognitive functions.