Hearing in older adults with exfoliation syndrome/exfoliation glaucoma or primary open-angle glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To determine whether adults, aged 66-96 years, with exfoliation syndrome (XFS)/exfoliation glaucoma (XFG), or primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) have poorer hearing than controls of similar age. METHODS: Case (XFS/XFG and POAG) and control status was diagnosed in the Reykjavik Glaucoma Studies (RGS) using slit-lamp examination, visual field testing and optic disc photographs; the RGS data were merged with the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study that collected hearing data using air-conduction, pure-tone thresholds obtained at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 kHz categorized by better ear and worse ear, based on pure-tone averages (PTAs) calculated separately for low and middle frequencies (PTA512 - mean of thresholds at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz) and high frequencies (PTA3468 - mean of thresholds at 3, 4, 6 and 8 kHz). Multivariable linear regression was used to test for differences in PTAs between cases and controls. RESULTS: The mean age for 158 XFS/XFG cases (30.4% male) was 77.4 years, 95 POAG cases (35.8% male) was 77.9 years, and 123 controls (46.3% male) was 76.8 years. Using multivariable linear regression analysis, there were no consistent, statistically significant differences in PTAs between the two case groups and controls in either the low- or high-frequency range, even when stratified by age group. CONCLUSION: Among the older individuals examined in this study hearing loss is highly prevalent and strongly associated with male gender and increasing age. As we did not find consistent statistically significant difference in hearing between cases and controls the diagnosis of XFS/XFG or POAG does not as such routinely call for audiological evaluation.

Midlife Blood Pressure and Late-Life GFR and Albuminuria: An Elderly General Population Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common in the elderly, but the cause is often not identifiable. Some posit that age-related reductions in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and increases in albuminuria are normal, whereas others suggest that they are a consequence of vascular disease. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of a substudy of a prospective cohort. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: AGES (Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility)-Reykjavik Study. PREDICTOR: Exposure to higher blood pressure in midlife. OUTCOMES & MEASUREMENTS: Measured GFR using plasma clearance of iohexol and urine albumin-creatinine ratio. RESULTS: GFR was measured in 805 participants with mean age in midlife and late life of 51.0±5.8 and 80.8±4.0 (SD) years, respectively. Mean measured GFR was 62.4±16.5 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and median albuminuria was 8.0 (IQR, 5.4-16.5) mg/g. Higher midlife systolic and diastolic blood pressures were associated with lower later-life GFRs. Associations persisted after adjustment. Higher midlife systolic and diastolic blood pressures were also associated with higher albumin-creatinine ratios, and associations remained significant even after adjustment. LIMITATIONS: This is a study of survivors, and people who agreed to participate in this study were healthier than those who refused. Blood pressure may encompass effects of the other risk factors. Results may not be generalizable to populations of other races. We were not able to adjust for measured GFR or albuminuria at the midlife visit. CONCLUSIONS: Factors other than advanced age may account for the high prevalence of CKD in the elderly. Midlife factors are potential contributing factors to late-life kidney disease. Further studies are needed to identify and treat midlife modifiable factors to prevent the development of CKD.

Sex-specific predictors of hearing-aid use in older persons: The age, gene/environment susceptibility - Reykjavik study.

OBJECTIVE: We estimate the prevalence of hearing-aid use in Iceland and identify sex-specific factors associated with use. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. STUDY SAMPLE: A total of 5172 age, gene/environment susceptibility - Reykjavik study (AGES-RS) participants, aged 67 to 96 years (mean age 76.5 years), who completed air-conduction and pure-tone audiometry. RESULTS: Hearing-aid use was reported by 23.0% of men and 15.9% of women in the cohort, although among participants with at least moderate hearing loss in the better ear (pure-tone average [PTA] of thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz ≥ 35 dB hearing level [HL]) it was 49.9% and did not differ by sex. Self-reported hearing loss was the strongest predictor of hearing-aid use in men [OR: 2.68 (95% CI: 1.77, 4.08)] and women [OR: 3.07 (95% CI: 1.94, 4.86)], followed by hearing loss severity based on audiometry. Having diabetes or osteoarthritis were significant positive predictors of use in men, whereas greater physical activity and unimpaired cognitive status were important in women. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing-aid use was comparable in Icelandic men and women with moderate or greater hearing loss. Self-recognition of hearing loss was the factor most predictive of hearing-aid use; other influential factors differed for men and women.

Impairments in hearing and vision impact on mortality in older people: the AGES-Reykjavik Study.

OBJECTIVE: to examine the relationships between impairments in hearing and vision and mortality from all-causes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among older people. DESIGN: population-based cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: the study population included 4,926 Icelandic individuals, aged ≥67 years, 43.4% male, who completed vision and hearing examinations between 2002 and 2006 in the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES-RS) and were followed prospectively for mortality through 2009. METHODS: participants were classified as having 'moderate or greater' degree of impairment for vision only (VI), hearing only (HI), and both vision and hearing (dual sensory impairment, DSI). Cox proportional hazard regression, with age as the time scale, was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) associated with impairment and mortality due to all-causes and specifically CVD after a median follow-up of 5.3 years. RESULTS: the prevalence of HI, VI and DSI were 25.4, 9.2 and 7.0%, respectively. After adjusting for age, significantly (P < 0.01) increased mortality from all causes, and CVD was observed for HI and DSI, especially among men. After further adjustment for established mortality risk factors, people with HI remained at higher risk for CVD mortality [HR: 1.70 (1.27-2.27)], whereas people with DSI remained at higher risk of all-cause mortality [HR: 1.43 (1.11-1.85)] and CVD mortality [HR: 1.78 (1.18-2.69)]. Mortality rates were significantly higher in men with HI and DSI and were elevated, although not significantly, among women with HI. CONCLUSIONS: older men with HI or DSI had a greater risk of dying from any cause and particularly cardiovascular causes within a median 5-year follow-up. Women with hearing impairment had a non-significantly elevated risk. Vision impairment alone was not associated with increased mortality.

Objective measurements of daily physical activity patterns and sedentary behaviour in older adults: Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study.

BACKGROUND: objectively measured population physical activity (PA) data from older persons is lacking. The aim of this study was to describe free-living PA patterns and sedentary behaviours in Icelandic older men and women using accelerometer. METHODS: from April 2009 to June 2010, 579 AGESII-study participants aged 73-98 years wore an accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X) at the right hip for one complete week in the free-living settings. RESULTS: in all subjects, sedentary time was the largest component of the total wear time, 75%, followed by low-light PA, 21%. Moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) was <1%. Men had slightly higher average total PA (counts × day(-1)) than women. The women spent more time in low-light PA but less time in sedentary PA and MVPA compared with men (P < 0.001). In persons <75 years of age, 60% of men and 34% of women had at least one bout ≥10 min of MVPA, which decreased with age, with only 25% of men and 9% of women 85 years and older reaching this. CONCLUSION: sedentary time is high in this Icelandic cohort, which has high life-expectancy and is living north of 60° northern latitude.