Association between Sensory, Perception, Negative Socio-Psychological Factors and Cognitive Impairment

Background: Evidence has suggested that sensory and socio-psychological factors may be associated with cognitive impairment separately in older adults. However, the association between those risk factors and cognitive impairment within the context of COVID-19 is still unknown.Objective: To investigate whether sensory, perception and negative socio-psychological factors are associated with cognitive impairment among older adults in the context of COVID-19.Methods: From two public aged care facilities, 215 participants were investigated. The Mini-mental State Examination was applied to assess cognitive function. The sensory was divided into hearing sensory and somatosensory which were evaluated using pure tone audiometry and Nottingham Sensory Assessment, respectively. Albert’s test, left and right resolution, and visuospatial distribution were used to evaluate perception. Depression and social isolation were selected as negative socio-psychological factors and were determined by the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Lubben Social Network Scale. The binary logistic regression analysis was used for the multivariate analysis.Results: Participants with moderately severe or severe hearing loss exhibited significant cognitive impairment compared to those with mild hearing loss. It was observed that perception dysfunction and depression were independently related to cognitive impairment. However, there was no significant association between somatosensory, social isolation, and cognitive impairment in those institutionalized older adults.Conclusion: More profound hearing loss, abnormal perception, and depression are associated with cognitive impairment in older adults. Further studies are needed to investigate the causal mechanistic basis of these associations and whether the combined interventions could delay the onset of cognitive impairment.