Sensory Impairment and All-Cause Mortality Among the Oldest-Old: Findings from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS)

Objectives To investigate the association between sensory impairment and all-cause mortality among the oldest-old (aged 80 and older) in China. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Community-based setting in 22 provinces of China. Participants A total of 8788 older adults aged 80 and over at baseline with complete hearing and vision function data were included as the study population. Measurements Sensory impairment was categorized as no sensory impairment, hearing impairment (HI) only, vision impairment (VI) only and dual sensory impairment (DSI) according to hearing and vision function. Deaths were identified through interviews by close family members. Cox proportion hazards regression models were used to examine the association of sensory impairment with mortality, adjusting for socio-demographic data, life style factors and health status. Results The mean age was 92.3 +/- 7.6 years old, and 60.1% of participants were female. Among 8788 participants, 9.8% were recognized as DSI, 9.7% were HI only and 10.4% with VI only. Comparing with participants with no sensory impairment, those with VI only (HR=1.10, 95% CI=1.01-1.20) and DSI (HR=1.21, 95% CI=1.09-1.35) were significantly associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality in the fully adjusted model. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that VI only and DSI were significantly associated with higher risk of mortality among Chinese older adults aged 80 and over. The finding advocated that it is necessary to identify and manage sensory impairments for the advanced ages to reduce mortality risks.