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Prevalence, adverse health, and risk factors in association with sensory impairments: data from a prospective cohort study of older Japanese

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Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine Aims and scope

Abstract

Sensory impairments, mainly of vision and hearing, are prevalent among the older adults, and are the leading causes of disability in people aged 60 years and above around the world. However, epidemiological data on sensory impairments (prevalence, association with adverse health outcomes, risk and preventive factors, etc.) in community-dwelling older people are sparse in Japan. Using data from the Kurabuchi Study, a community-based prospective cohort study of adults aged 65 years or older, the author and colleagues estimated the prevalence of sensory impairments in this population. Vision and hearing impairments were associated with adverse health outcomes, such as depressive symptoms, dependence in activities of daily living, and early death. In addition, antioxidants, sunlight exposure, hyperglycaemia, and nutritional status were identified as possible risk or preventive factors for vision and/or hearing impairments. Further research is needed into whether the maintenance or improvement of sensory functions contributes to the extension of disability-free life expectancy.

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Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Professor Toru Takebayashi (Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan), and Professor Yuji Nishiwaki (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Medicine, Toho University, Tokyo, Japan), as well as to all the other researchers and staff in the Kurabuchi Study Group. Also, I would like to express my gratitude to the Health and Welfare Division, Kurabuchi Branch Office, Takasaki City Hall, Gunma Prefecture, Japan for its cooperation and support. Finally, the author thanks the Japan Society of Hygiene and the Editorial Board of the Environment Health and Preventive Medicine for commissioning this article. These studies were supported by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (Nos. 19390166, 19500692, 21300281, 21390193, and 24390156) and from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan (H19-Kankaku-005). They were also supported by the Uehara Memorial Foundation.

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  1. Environmental Epidemiology Section, Centre for Health and Environmental Risk Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506, Japan

    Takehiro Michikawa

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Correspondence to Takehiro Michikawa.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Michikawa, T. Prevalence, adverse health, and risk factors in association with sensory impairments: data from a prospective cohort study of older Japanese. Environ Health Prev Med 21, 403–409 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-016-0574-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-016-0574-7

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