Vision and Hearing Impairments Affecting Activities of Daily Living among Malaysian Older Adults by Gender

Yee Mang Chan, Norhafizah Sahril, Ying Ying Chan, Nor’ Ain Ab Wahab, Norliza Shamsuddin and Muhd Zulfadli Hafiz Ismail
Additional contact information
Yee Mang Chan: Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia
Norhafizah Sahril: Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia
Ying Ying Chan: Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia
Nor’ Ain Ab Wahab: Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia
Norliza Shamsuddin: Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia
Muhd Zulfadli Hafiz Ismail: Sector for Biostatistics and Data Repository, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: Vision and hearing impairments are common among older adults and can cause undesirable health effects. There are limited studies from low- and middle-income countries exploring gender differences between vision and hearing impairment with Activities of Daily Living (ADL) disability. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate gender differences between vision and hearing impairments with ADL disability among older adults in Malaysia. Cross-sectional data from 3977 respondents aged 60 and above from the Malaysian National Health and Morbidity Survey 2018 were used. We used logistic regression analysis to measure associations between vision and hearing impairments with ADL disability, adjusted for covariates. The prevalence of ADL disability was higher among females than males ( p < 0.001). The adjusted associations between vision impairment and ADL disability were significant among males (aOR 3.79; 95%CI 2.26, 6.38) and females (aOR 2.66; 95%CI 1.36, 5.21). Similarly, significant adjusted associations were found between hearing impairment and ADL disability among males (aOR 5.76; 95%CI 3.52, 9.40) and females (aOR 3.30; 95%CI 1.17, 9.33). Vision and hearing impairments were significantly associated with ADL disability, with no gender differences identified. Early detection and effective management of vision and hearing impairments are important to prevent ADL disability and improve older adults’ level of independence.

Keywords: hearing impairment; vision impairment; ADL disability; older adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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