BACKGROUND research on the association between hearing impairment and psychosocial outcomes is not only limited but also yielded mixed results. METHODS we investigated associations between annual self-reports of hearing problems, depressive symptoms and social network strength among 5,888 adults from the Cardiovascular Health Study over a period of 9 years. Social network strength and depressive symptoms were defined using the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). RESULTS hearing problems were associated with weaker social networks and more depressive symptoms. These association differed for prevalent versus incident hearing problems. Participants with prevalent hearing problems scored an adjusted 0.47 points lower (95% CI: -2.20, -0.71) on the LSNS and 0.71 points higher (95% CI: 0.23, 1.19) on the CES-D than those without hearing problems. Participants with incident hearing problems had a greater decline of 0.12 points (95% CI: -0.12, -0.03) per year in social network score than individuals with no hearing problems after adjusting for confounders. Females appeared to be more vulnerable to changes in social network strength than males (P-value for interaction = 0.02), but not for changes in depressive score. Accounting for social network score did not appear to attenuate the association between hearing problems and depressive score. CONCLUSION findings suggest that older adults with prevalent hearing problems may be more at risk for depression, but individuals with incident hearing problems may be at greater risk for a winnowing of their social network.

中文翻译：

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听力问题与社交网络强度和抑郁症状的关联：心血管健康研究。

关于听力障碍和心理社会结果之间关联的背景研究不仅有限，而且得出的结果也好坏参半。方法 我们调查了 5,888 名成年人在为期 9 年的心血管健康研究中每年自我报告的听力问题、抑郁症状和社交网络强度之间的关联。使用卢本社交网络量表（LSNS）和流行病学研究中心抑郁量表（CES-D）定义社交网络强度和抑郁症状。结果听力问题与社交网络较弱和抑郁症状较多有关。这些关联对于普遍听力问题和突发听力问题是不同的。与没有听力问题的参与者相比，存在普遍听力问题的参与者在 LSNS 上的调整后得分低 0.47 分（95% CI：-2.20，-0.71），在 CES-D 上的得分高 0.71 分（95% CI：0.23，1.19）。在调整混杂因素后，有听力问题的参与者的社交网络评分比没有听力问题的参与者每年下降 0.12 分（95% CI：-0.12，-0.03）。女性似乎比男性更容易受到社交网络强度变化的影响（互动 P 值 = 0.02），但不会受到抑郁评分变化的影响。考虑社交网络得分似乎并没有减弱听力问题与抑郁得分之间的关​​联。结论研究结果表明，患有普遍听力问题的老年人可能更容易患抑郁症，但患有偶发性听力问题的人可能面临更大的社交网络筛选风险。