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Acquired Hearing Loss and Psychiatric Illness: An Estimate of Prevalence and Co-morbidity in a Geriatric Setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

M. R. Eastwood*
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Preventive Medicine, University of Toronto, and Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario MST 1R8, Canada
S. Corbin
Affiliation:
Geriatric Psychiatry Service, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry
M. Reed
Affiliation:
Geriatric Centre, 350 Christie Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
H. Nobbs
Affiliation:
Clarke Institute of Psychiatry
H. B. Kedward
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Preventive Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*
Correspondence

Abstract

Hearing impairment and mental disorders are common among residents of nursing homes and homes for the aged; however, the relationship between sensory deficit and psychiatic illness has been little investigated in this population. The prevalence of hearing impairment, psychiatric illness, and co-morbidity was investigated in a sample of 102 elderly residents from consecutive admissions to a home for the aged. Examining the coincidence of these disorders showed evidence of an association between hearing loss and paraphrenia, and hearing loss and dysphoric states, but not between hearing and cognitive impairment. The results of this survey provide only suggestive evidence regarding aetiology, but strongly support conjoint assessment of the elderly.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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