Hearing Loss & Cognitive Status in Aging Agricultural Workers
Jan A. Moore, PhD, University of Nebraska Kearney; Ladan Ghazi Saidi; Ph.D., University of Nebraska Kearney
Dr. Jan
Moore is a clinical audiologist and expert in hearing loss in children and adults. Dr. Moore obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She also completed a graduate certificate in public health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. Dr. Ghazi Saidi is a cognitive neuroscientist and expert in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Montreal. Both Drs. Moore and Gahzi Saidi have expertise and experience in both treatment and research with patients with communicative disorders.
Learning objectives:
1. Participants will be able to describe different input and output channels for assessing cognitive status.
2. Participants will be able to name different assessment tools used in screening cognitive status.
3. Participants will be able to describe how progressive hearing loss impacts cognitive assessment in aging workers.
Progressive and permanent sensorineural hearing loss associated with noise
exposure (NIHL) is a chronic health condition in agricultural workers. In addition to
the impact of hearing loss on communication, hearing loss and exposure to noise
have negative impacts on balance, cardiovascular health, mental health, and
cognitive skills. Recent large-scale public health studies among elderly and middle aged
persons indicated hearing loss presents a significant and independent risk
factor for the development of dementia. This project will examine the hearing
status and cognitive skills of aging farmers and ranchers over the age of 50. This
presentation will report the initial findings of data collected in 2020 including
audiological and cognitive screening results. The following screening tests have
been used for the first phase of this study: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment
(MOCA), Stroop Color and Word Test (STROOP), and the Digit Symbol Digit
Symbol Substitution Test (DSS). Our data will provide novel information on the
impact of long-term hearing loss on the cognitive status in older agricultural
workers.
Jan Moore’s presentation begins at timestamp 1:00:28