Functional deficit of sense organs as a risk factor for cognitive functional disorder in Chinese community elderly people

Objective To explore the relationship between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and sense organs functional deficit in community elderly people. Methods A total of 3095 community elderly people above 60 years in Hebei Province were selected by cross-sectional random cluster sampling method, who were evaluated face-to-face for general demographic data, the condition of sense organs functional deficit (vision, hearing, gustation, olfactory sensation, taste) and cognitive function by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Results A total of 3075 valid questionnaires were obtained. (a) 1368 old people (44.49%) were defined with sense organs functional deficit (defined as one or more of glaucoma, fundus disease, hearing impairment, olfactory disorder and taste disorder) in 3095 elderly people. According to questionnaires, MCI was diagnosed in 689 of 3075 participants (22.41%). The hearing disorder and glaucoma of MCI group were higher than that of the normal control group (X-2 were 5.998 and 7.430, respectively, P were .014 and .006, respectively). (b) The MMSE score of the hearing disorder were significantly lower than those of non-hearing disorder group (t = 2.046, P = .041). (c) Multinomial logistics regression analysis was applied by MCI as the dependent variable and the various sensory organs defects as independent variables. The hearing impairment (Wald = 8.582, P = .003, OR = 1.485, 95% CI: 1.140-1.934) and glaucoma (Wald = 8.020, P = .005, OR = 1.847, 95% CI: 1.208-2.824) were associated with MCI. Conclusion The sensory organs functional defects is associated with the mild cognitive impartment in Chinese elderly, especially in vision and hearing disorder.