Vision, hearing, and dementia in older adults receiving home care services: implications for optometric practice

Vision and hearing impairments are common in older adults and are often comorbid with dementia. These conditions exacerbate the impact of dementia, and outcomes for those with dual sensory impairment are considerably worse than for people with single sensory impairment....

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Audiologists treating older home-care patients should routinely screen for co-occurring vision impairment and dementia, as dual sensory loss significantly compounds functional decline and requires coordinated care planning.

With an aging population increasingly receiving care at home, understanding the overlap of sensory impairments and dementia is critical for designing integrated audiology and vision services outside traditional clinic settings.

1. 01Co-occurrence of vision impairment, hearing loss, and dementia examined in home-care older adults.
2. 02Dual sensory loss (combined vision and hearing impairment) associated with worse outcomes than single-sense impairment.
3. 03Study highlights need for coordinated optometric and audiologic care for home-care patients.
4. 04Implications extend to audiologists managing older adults with multiple comorbidities.
5. 05Published in Clinical and Experimental Optometry (doi: 10.1080/08164622.2026.2704611).

PMID

42557685

DOI

10.1080/08164622.2026.2704611.

Journal

Clinical and Experimental Optometry

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Older adults receiving home care services

Intervention

Observational assessment of co-occurring vision impairment, hearing loss, and dementia