Independent associations between loneliness, self-reported hearing loss, and episodic memory: findings from the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA).
Objectives: Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and loneliness have been independently associated with poor cognitive function in older adults. However, the extent to which loneliness modifies the relationship between ARHL and cognitive impairment remains poorly understood. This study examined the indep...
| Publicado en: | Aging & Mental Health Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 729 - 739 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Apr2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=192847077&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 192847077 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 13607863 57E jtl: Aging & Mental Health issn: 13607863 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 30 iid: 4 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 192847077 10.1080/13607863.2025.2584165 ppf: 729 ppct: 10 formats: tig: atl: Independent associations between loneliness, self-reported hearing loss, and episodic memory: findings from the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA). aug: au: Loughrey, David G. Feeney, Joanne Kee, Frank Lawlor, Brian A. McGuinness, Bernadette Woodside, Jayne V. Neville, Charlotte E. Power, Joanna McHugh affil: School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University, Ireland School of Medicine, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland Department of Psychology, Maynooth University, Education House, Co Kildare, Republic of Ireland su: Northern Ireland Self-evaluation Cross-sectional method Episodic memory Loneliness Social networks Aging Social isolation Mental depression Activities of daily living Old age Pearson correlation (Statistics) Research funding Independent living Multiple regression analysis Chi-squared test Descriptive statistics Presbycusis Longitudinal method Statistics Factor analysis Confidence intervals Data analysis software sug: subj: Self-evaluation Cross-sectional method Episodic memory Loneliness Social networks Aging Social isolation Mental depression Activities of daily living Old age Northern Ireland Other Individual and Family Services Pearson correlation (Statistics) Research funding Independent living Multiple regression analysis Chi-squared test Descriptive statistics Presbycusis Longitudinal method Statistics Factor analysis Confidence intervals Data analysis software keyword: cognitive ageing dementia episodic memory hearing loss cognitive ageing dementia episodic memory hearing loss ab: Objectives: Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and loneliness have been independently associated with poor cognitive function in older adults. However, the extent to which loneliness modifies the relationship between ARHL and cognitive impairment remains poorly understood. This study examined the independent and interactive associations of ARHL and loneliness with episodic memory in older adults. Method: We used cross-sectional data from wave 1 of the 2,471 community-dwelling adults aged over 50 years from the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA) study. ARHL was assessed via a latent 'hearing quality' factor derived from self-rated items. Loneliness was measured using a modified UCLA Loneliness Scale, and episodic memory through immediate and delayed word recall tasks. Data analysis was performed using regression models. Results: Higher loneliness and poorer self-reported hearing loss were independently associated with worse immediate recall. Only loneliness was associated with delayed recall. No significant interaction between ARHL and loneliness was observed for any memory outcome. Conclusion: Findings suggest that ARHL and loneliness contribute separately to poorer episodic memory in later life. Loneliness and ARHL do not appear to interact in their associations with episodic memory. Further longitudinal and biomarker-informed research is needed to clarify causal pathways linking ARHL with cognitive function in later life. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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