Prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics of US community-dwelling older adults with communication disabilities, using the national health and aging trends survey.
Jennifer Y Oshita, Nancy M Gell, Michelle L Stransky and 2 others
PMID 36870271WHAT IT FOUND
About one in four community-dwelling US adults over 65 has a communication disability.
These individuals are more likely to be male, Black or Hispanic, have lower education and income, and have very small social networks compared to peers without disabilities.
Key findings
01An estimated 25.3% of US community-dwelling older adults have any communication disability, with cognitive-only issues being the most common single type at 10.0%.
02Older adults with communication disabilities are significantly more likely to be male, Black or Hispanic, living in poverty, and having less than a high school education compared to those without.
03Social isolation is more prevalent in this group, with 45.3% of older adults with communication disabilities having a social network of one person or fewer, compared to 36.0% of those without.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used univariate analysis, meaning it did not adjust for confounding variables like comorbidities or other disabilities. Hearing and expressive disabilities were based on self-report, while cognitive disabilities were based on testing, which may lead to inconsistent reporting across groups. The survey did not include a direct question about receptive communication difficulties, so individuals with these issues may have been misclassified or missed. The sample excluded individuals living in assisted living or skilled nursing facilities, so the findings apply only to community-dwelling older adults.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that the high prevalence of cognitive-only communication disabilities implies that most of these patients have dementia. The study found that 21.4% of the population had a communication disability even when excluding those with a prior diagnosis of dementia, indicating that many individuals have cognitive-communication impairments that do not meet the threshold for a dementia diagnosis.