Work

Historical change in midlife trajectories of self-reported sensory functioning across 16 nations

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Problems with vision or hearing in midlife and old age can have a detrimental impact on individuals' autonomy in everyday life, social participation, and quality of life. However, little is known about historical trends in self-reported vision and hearing trajectories among middle-aged adults and how these differ across nations. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The researchers used harmonized data (n = 96,896; data collection 1996-2020) on self-reported near and distant vision as well as hearing from nationally representative panel surveys across a total of 16 countries (United States, Mexico, South Korea, England, and countries in Continental, Mediterranean, and Nordic Europe) in order to compare historical change in middle-aged adults' sensory functioning trajectories. The researchers included sex, age, education, chronic conditions, and depressive symptoms as moderators of historical change. RESULTS: Longitudinal multilevel regression models revealed that at age 50 and across most birth year cohorts, U.S. individuals had poorer self-reported near and distant vision than individuals in England and Continental Europe. For the United States, there was no evidence of historical change in self-reported hearing and distant vision. Across most countries, including the United States, there was a historical decline in self-reported near vision. Women reported better hearing than men; this sex discrepancy narrowed across historical time. Education and depressive symptoms were more closely associated with self-reported sensory functioning in the United States than in most other regions. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The findings of this study suggest that there is little evidence for global historical improvements in self-reported sensory functioning.

Source: The Gerontologist

DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnaf269