Abstract
PURPOSE: The objectives of this study were to ascertain the prevalence of vision and/or hearing impairment and investigate their association with cognitive impairment in nursing home residents in Switzerland. METHODS: The sample comprised individuals aged 65-105 (mean = 84.0 and SD = 7.2) newly admitted for long-term care in one of 715 Swiss nursing homes from 2010 to 2019 (N = 132,880). Items from the Minimum Data Set of the Resident Assessment Instrument Swiss Version 2.0 assessed occurrence of hearing impairment (HI), vision impairment (VI), and dual sensory impairment (DSI, both HI and VI). We conducted logistic regression analyses to examine associations of each sensory impairment to cognitive impairment, controlling for medical and demographic factors. RESULTS: Sensory impairment was present in 57.28% of residents (HI 19.16%, VI 15.13%, and DSI: 22.99%) and cognitive impairment in 57.29%. The likelihood of cognitive impairment was greatest for DSI (prevalence ratio (PR) 1.58; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.56-1.60), followed by HI (PR 1.35; 95% CI 1.33-1.37) and VI (PR 1.18; 95% CI 1.16-1.20). The average marginal effect for DSI on cognitive impairment exceeded the sum of effects for HI and VI. Stratified models revealed that male sex, younger age, and higher medical comorbidity were associated with increased likelihood of cognitive impairment in DSI. CONCLUSION: Sensory impairments are prevalent among newly admitted nursing home residents. While HI and VI are independently associated with cognitive impairment, an interactive burden emerges when they co-occur as dual sensory impairment.