Association Between Cognitive Impairment and the Presence of Hearing Problems and Precarious Conditions

The aim of our project is to study the association between the severity of cognitive problems and precariousness in people with hearing problems

While the data on the link between deafness and cognitive impairment is well established (Manrique et al., 2023), the data published in PubMed is poor or even non-existent when the precariousness of the individuals is taken into account.

In 2018, DREES published the results of the Capacités, Aides et REssources des seniors (CARE) ménages, seniors section survey, carried out in 2015 and looking at the living conditions and difficulties encountered in the daily lives of people aged 60 or over living at home. It was reported that 4% of the 15.7 million people over 60 in the French population had hearing difficulties, i.e. they reported having great difficulty or not managing at all to hear a conversation in a silent room. These difficulties differed according to whether the subjects surveyed were men or women, and also according to their social category. People with a degree (≥ bac +3) are 60% less likely to have hearing problems than those without a degree. These differences are linked in particular to inequalities in occupational risks, lifestyle habits and access to healthcare throughout the life cycle, making the link between precariousness and deafness. They also have an impact on immediate access to corrective measures. The most common cause of hearing loss in adults is presbycusis (physiological alteration of hearing function associated with aging), which can generally be compensated for by wearing a hearing aid. Of these people, seven out of ten do not wear a hearing aid.

the investigators would therefore like to study prospectively, in patients seen at our Memory unit and presenting with a cognitive impairment defined by an MMSE score ≤ 24 (140 patients/year), whether the presence of a precarious situation associated with a hearing impairment is an aggravating factor in this cognitive impairment.

• association between the severity of cognitive disorders and the presence of precariousness and unaidable hearing disorders, as determined by neuropsychological tests with a hippocampal diagnostic orientation [Срок оценки: through study completion an average of 1 year]
• association between the severity of cognitive disorders and the presence of precariousness and unaidable hearing disorders, as determined by neuropsychological tests with a frontal diagnostic orientation [Срок оценки: through study completion an average of 1 year]
• association between the severity of cognitive disorders and the presence of precariousness and unaidable hearing disorders, as determined by neuropsychological tests with mixed hippocampal and frontal origin. [Срок оценки: through study completion an average of 1 year]
• MMSE score in subjects with or without hearing problems who are not fitted with hearing aids and in those in precarious and non-precarious situations by distinguishing four groups of patients [Срок оценки: through study completion an average of 1 year]
• Other neuropsychological tests to assess cognitive functions such as praxis and visual-spatial perception [Срок оценки: through study completion an average of 1 year]
• Assess the quality of life of these patients [Срок оценки: through study completion an average of 1 year]