The purpose of this epidemiologic study is to determine the 10-year incidence of hearing, vision, and olfactory impairments and sensory declines, generational differences in incidence, and the associations of potential risk factors wit declines in sensory and cognitive function in the Beaver Dam Offspring Study (BOSS) cohort. Subjects are participants in the BOSS and were 21-84 years of age at the baseline examination (2005-2008). The proposed examination will use standardized protocols used in the baseline and 5-year follow-up examination and will include a hearing evaluation (otoscopy, audiometry, word recognition and dichotic listening tests, distortion product otoacoustic emissions), eye examination (refraction, visual acuity measures, contrast sensitivity, accommodation, near vision, digital images of the retina and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography of the macula), olfaction testing (San Diego Odor Identification Test and olfactory threshold test), vascular measures (carotid ultrasound to measure the intima-medial thickness and blood pressure) and cognitive function measures (Trail Making Test, Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Verbal Fluency Test, Digit Symbol Substitution, Mini-Mental State Exam). A standardized questionnaire about medical history, life-style factors and medication usage will be completed. Hemoglobin A1C will be measured on blood samples obtained at the examination. Inflammatory markers will be measured on samples from the 5-yr and 10-yr follow-up. Vitamin D, B12, cadmium and lead levels will be measured to determine their associations with sensory and cognitive changes. Stored samples from adults in the BOSS and the parent cohort seen in the Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study (AG11099), will be genotyped using a 384 SNP custom array for use in analyses evaluating associations of genetic risk scores with sensory and cognitive function. This study of middle-aged adults will provide important new information about the epidemiology of sensory impairments in the people born since World War II compared to people born in earlier periods. This study will contribute to developing interventions targeted at midlife to prevent or delay the onset of age-related changes in sensory and cognitive function and provide essential information for planning to meet the health care needs of the aging baby-boom generation.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed study will contribute important information about the risk of developing hearing, olfaction and vision impairments and risk factors for cognitive changes in middle-aged adults. Understanding factors associated with these conditions could lead to new treatments targeted at improving health for tomorrow's elders.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AG021917-13
Application #
9069685
Study Section
Neurological, Aging and Musculoskeletal Epidemiology (NAME)
Program Officer
St Hillaire-Clarke, Coryse
Project Start
2004-12-01
Project End
2019-05-31
Budget Start
2016-06-15
Budget End
2017-05-31
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department
Ophthalmology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
161202122
City
Madison
State
WI
Country
United States
Zip Code
53715
Fischer, Mary E; Cruickshanks, Karen J; Dillard, Lauren K et al. (2018) An Epidemiologic Study of the Association between Free Recall Dichotic Digits Test Performance and Vascular Health. J Am Acad Audiol :
Paulsen, Adam J; Schubert, Carla R; Johnson, Lauren J et al. (2018) Association of Cadmium and Lead Exposure With the Incidence of Contrast Sensitivity Impairment Among Middle-aged Adults. JAMA Ophthalmol 136:1342-1350
Fischer, Mary E; Cruickshanks, Karen J; Nondahl, David M et al. (2017) Dichotic Digits Test Performance Across the Ages: Results From Two Large Epidemiologic Cohort Studies. Ear Hear 38:314-320
Cruickshanks, Karen J; Nondahl, David M; Johnson, Lauren J et al. (2017) Generational Differences in the 5-Year Incidence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration. JAMA Ophthalmol 135:1417-1423
Schubert, Carla R; Cruickshanks, Karen J; Fischer, Mary E et al. (2017) Sensory Impairments and Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged Adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 72:1087-1090
Chen, Yanjun; Nondahl, David M; Schubert, Carla R et al. (2017) A longitudinal population study of the impact of cataract extraction on sleep quality. Cogent Med 4:
Holzinger, Emily R; Verma, Shefali S; Moore, Carrie B et al. (2017) Discovery and replication of SNP-SNP interactions for quantitative lipid traits in over 60,000 individuals. BioData Min 10:25
Chen, Yanjun; Nondahl, David M; Schubert, Carla R et al. (2017) The Relation between Sleep Disruption and Cataract in a Large Population-Based Study. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 24:111-115
Wichmann, Margarete A; Cruickshanks, Karen J; Carlsson, Cynthia M et al. (2016) NSAID Use and Incident Cognitive Impairment in a Population-based Cohort. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 30:105-12
Tremblay, Kelly L; Pinto, Alex; Fischer, Mary E et al. (2015) Self-Reported Hearing Difficulties Among Adults With Normal Audiograms: The Beaver Dam Offspring Study. Ear Hear 36:e290-9

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