Social participation and changes in hearing ability

A growing body of evidence drawn from large-scale longitudinal studies recognises twelve modifiable risk factors for dementia. This includes the preventative measures of treating hearing impairment and maintaining frequent social contact. The complex relationship between hearing and social participation and the early signs of dementia is yet to be fully understood. In my MRes research project, I examined how social participation involving speech and non-speech activities relates to self-reported hearing ability, speech-in-noise performance, and sub-clinical symptoms of dementia.
This project would seek to take the learnings from the previous study to refine the questionnaire used to measure social participation and changes in hearing ability. Using the COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments) methodology, I will review the tools currently in use
before conducting focus groups with older adults and experts within the field, the questionnaire will be refined to understand important aspects of social participation, hearing changes in older age and its measurement. After pre-testing with a small group, evaluate the predictive function of the new tool in relation to self-reported cognitive ability, hearing ability and acoustic test scores. Testing would be conducted at two-time points would enable measurement of change.
Given the anticipated growth in the burden of care related to dementia and our understanding that some risk factors are modifiable, in theory, this proposed new
tool would be a valuable tool in a broader context of both primary healthcare and also public health. Having a reliable and valid measure of social participation and
hearing that can be administered quickly and at scale provides researchers and clinicians with a tool that may aid in research and planning intervention (such as
social prescribing but also more widely in identifying risks of dementia) and monitoring over time.