Sensory Difficulty, Social and Physical Activity, and Dementia Risk Among Older Adults

Objectives Sensory loss is associated with increased dementia risk, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This longitudinal study examined the association between self-reported sensory difficulty (vision, hearing, dual), social and physical activity, and dementia risk among older U.S. adults. Methods Data were drawn from the 2015-2020 National Health and Aging Trends Study ( N = 6,295). Discrete-time survival mediation models with a structural equation modeling-based approach were estimated to examine the associations. Results Dementia incidence was highest among those with dual sensory difficulty (21.8%), followed by visual (18.8%) and hearing (13.2%) difficulties. Visual difficulty and dual sensory difficulty were associated with decreased social activities and incident dementia in subsequent waves. Social activity, but not physical activity, significantly mediated the visual difficulty-dementia link and the dual sensory difficulty-dementia link. Discussion Older adults with sensory difficulty were at a higher risk of incident dementia. Future research should investigate other factors underlying the sensory loss-dementia link.