Health care research project on hearing ability and dementia in residential care facilities in the greater Hanover area – cognitive performance and dementia-specific risk factors

Background Dementia affects millions of people worldwide. Some risk factors for the development of dementia have already been identified in literature. Evaluation of dementia developments and social withdrawal tendencies in residential care facilities in Lower Saxony have not yet been described.

Methods and Results We investigated dementia-specific cognitive abilities and factors influencing the development of dementia of persons in residential care facilities in Lower Saxony in a monocentric, exploratory study. Our preliminary data could not demonstrate an association between dementia development and demographic data and lifestyle factors. However, hearing impairment, education level, occupational groups, and previous chemotherapy could be identified as possible risk factors. In a second step, it will be investigated whether an improvement of social participation can be achieved by sufficient hearing aid provision.

Conclusion Dementia plays an important role in the social participation of persons in residential care facilities. Sensorineural hearing loss is a risk factor for dementia development and may be associated with poorer cognitive performance. There are indications that improved hearing ability can leads to an improvement in cognitive performance, but this must be investigated in a second step.

Publication History

Article published online:
12 May 2023