Hearing Handicap Predicts the Development of Depressive Symptoms After 3 Years in Older Community‐Dwelling Japanese

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between hearing handicap and depressive symptoms in older community‐dwelling Japanese. DESIGN: Community‐based cohort study. SETTING: Kurabuchi Town, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred eighty residents (261 men, 319 women) aged 65 and older without depressive symptoms. MEASUREMENTS: In a baseline examination performed in 2005/06, participants answered the 10‐item screening version of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly (HHIE‐S). They were divided into two groups according to their scores: a group with no hearing handicap (HHIE‐S scores of ≤8) and a hearing handicap group (HHIE‐S scores of ≥10). The Geriatric Depression Scale was used to identify depressive symptoms in face‐to‐face home visit interviews conducted in 2008, and the association between hearing handicap and depressive symptoms was assessed using logistic regression. RESULTS: The incidence of depressive symptoms was 19.6% in the group with a hearing handicap and 8.0% in the group without a hearing handicap. When compared with the subjects without hearing handicap, subjects with a hearing handicap had a multiadjusted odds ratio of depressive symptoms of 2.45 (95% confidence interval=1.26–4.77). The association remained significant even when hearing impairment measured with pure‐tone audiometry was added to the multiadjusted model. CONCLUSION: A hearing handicap can predict future depressive symptoms in older community‐dwelling people.