TOPLINE:

Adults aged 65 years or older with visual or motor impairments had an increased risk for dementia over 11 years. Impairments in three or more domains further increased this risk.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study involving 3847 Medicare beneficiaries (average age, 73.9 years; 56% female; 85.4% White).
• Participants without cognitive impairment at baseline were classified on the basis of self-reported sensory difficulties (difficulty seeing or hearing well) and impairment in objective motor functions (impairment in balance, lower gait speed, longer time to complete chair stands, and reduced grip strength).
• The primary outcome was incident dementia, based on criteria involving cognitive domain scores.
• Participants were followed up for up to 11 years, and the association between baseline impairments and incident dementia was examined.

TAKEAWAY:

• Vision difficulty was associated with an increased risk for incident dementia (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.34; 95% CI, 1.13-1.60).
• No significant association was found between hearing problems and incident dementia after adjusting for covariates.
• Each motor impairment was linked to an increased risk for incident dementia.
  • Balance impairment vs control: aHR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.10-1.39
  • Gait speed impairment vs control: aHR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.34-1.67
  • Chair stand impairment vs control: aHR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.18-1.47
  • Grip strength impairment vs control: aHR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.13-1.51
• The risk for dementia increased with the number of impairments, with the risk being higher for those with three (aHR, 1.44; P = .003), four (aHR, 1.92; P < .0001), five or more impairments (aHR, 1.96; P < .0001).

IN PRACTICE:

“[The study] findings suggest that screening for and addressing sensory difficulty and motor function impairments in older adults may be crucial for dementia prevention, highlighting the need for early detection and intervention efforts for managing dementia,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Anis Davoudi, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. It was published online on January 13, 2026, in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

LIMITATIONS:

The dementia classification algorithm was validated against a widely used study. Genetic risk factors related to dementia were not considered.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging. Two authors reported receiving an honorarium from The Villages, Inc.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.