In this ISLAND Newsletter

• World Hearing Day - Hearing loss and dementia
• Get your hearing checked
• ISLAND Community Advisory group
• Healthy ageing or dementia?
• Participant Profile: Brian Stace
• Research update: Tas Test paper

Hearing loss and dementia

In light of World Hearing Day which is coming up on the 3rd March, we thought it was the perfect time to discuss hearing loss. Currently, around 500 million people worldwide have moderate to profound hearing loss. This number is predicted to grow to around 900 million by 2050. Hearing loss affects 1 in 3 older adults and has debilitating effects on communication, quality of life and well-being.

Audiologists, the professionals who assess, diagnose, and treat hearing loss, have shown for some time how hearing loss can result in social isolation, loneliness, and depression.

Recent research from the Lancet Commission on Dementia suggests hearing loss acquired in mid-life, that is not recognised or well managed, is a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia – and social isolation and depression are additional risk factors. Here at the Wicking Centre, we are working on helping people understand the consequences of hearing loss and the relationship to dementia risk. With thanks to 7,442 ISLAND Project participants who responded to a survey about hearing loss, 17% (1,274 participants) reported they had a hearing loss, with 43% of these participants (n=548) stating that their hearing loss had not been corrected or corrected to their satisfaction. These 548 participants also reported more difficulties with social isolation, lack of social support, anxiety, and depression.

Recent data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study in the United States shows that self-report of hearing loss underestimates actual hearing loss, highlighting the importance of going to see an audiologist whenever you have any concerns about changes in your hearing. Our ongoing research seeks to assist in uncovering the relationship between hearing loss and dementia, including uncorrected hearing loss being a source of chronic stress, and whether improved prevention and management of hearing loss could indeed prevent some cases of dementia or certainly slow the progression of this condition. 

To learn more about hearing loss and the other modifiable risk factors it is never too late to sign up to the free, online Preventing Dementia MOOC.

Get your hearing checked

Manage the risk! If you haven’t had your hearing checked recently it would be a good idea to do so and many places offer checks for free.

You can find more information on what is involved and see if there is a location near you through websites such as Hearing Australia or Specsavers. If needed, modern hearing aids can be very discreet and can make a huge difference to your quality of life. 

EOI's open for our new Community Advisory Group

We would like to hear from you! This year, we will be establishing an ISLAND Community Advisory Group, in order to provide input into research proposals, exposures and community engagement. We are seeking to improve the way we interact with the community, and consulting our engaged participants is an ideal first step. Please click here for more information or to submit an expression of interest.

Healthy ageing or dementia

Are you feeling worried about what healthy ageing looks like and when to seek help? Maybe you have been a little forgetful lately.

If this sounds like you, we have sourced two excellent articles on normal ageing and when you might need to speak to your doctor. Is it getting older or dementia? and Memory problems, forgetfulness and ageing.

You may also be interested in this recent ABC article; What does the latest research say about how to reduce dementia risk?, which features ISLAND and one of our participants.

Brian Stace

Walking 4 Health and Helen: Over 50 memorable Tassie walks in under 50 days

Brian is a retired lawyer and long term member of the ISLAND project. He joined in 2019 along with his wife, Helen, both of whom were keen walkers. 

In June 2023, Helen sadly died of ovarian cancer, so Brian has established his own project in honour of her. This project will not only raise greatly needed funds for the Cancer Council, it also promotes the health benefits of walking and living an active life. One of these benefits is the reduced risk of dementia, so we thought it would be a good story to share with our ISLAND participants. Brian would like to spread the word about the mental and physical benefits of walking, and encourage others to incorporate it into their lives. The walks Brian plans to take on range from 30 minutes to 6 hours and almost all are ones that Helen has been on herself, many even after her advanced cancer diagnosis. For Brian, the project has also helped with other dementia risk factors; it has given him a mental challenge in organising the logistics, and he has met new people along the way. He will also walk with friends and family, therefore boosting his social networks and connectivity. 

You can see more information, including Brian's donation page, here. He will also be keeping people updated with daily blogs through his Facebook group when the walks start in early March. For further inspiration you might like to look at the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service's "60 Great Short Walks" online guide, many of which are walks Brian will be doing in this challenge. 

On behalf of the ISLAND Team, we wish Brian the best of luck and look forward to hearing all about his adventures! Keep up the good work.

If you have a personal story you would like to share regarding dementia prevention or awareness we would love to hear from you. Please email the team at island@dementia.utas.edu.au.

Tas Test Paper

Our latest research has us a step closer to developing a computer test that can detect dementia, decades before any memory symptoms emerge.

In 2020, Neurologist Jane Alty and Computer Scientist Quan Bai, along with James Vickers and other members of the ISLAND team, developed TAS Test – a new computer screening test that measures the changes in hand movements that indicate increased risk of dementia occurring 10 - 20 years later. This exciting research was funded through a $900,000 National Health and Medical Research Council grant.

In the latest study, Jane and PhD Student Renjie Li led the research team to analyse the effectiveness of TAS Test with some of you, our ISLAND Project participants. About 400 participants took part in the study, undertaking TAS Test at home, where they recorded themselves tapping their fingers against their thumbs in a quick test that took around 30 seconds. 

The researchers compared precisely measured details of these movements, such as the rhythm of tapping and the speed of the movements, to the participants’ cognitive test scores which were recorded as part of the main ISLAND Project. 

Thank you to everyone who was involved. Another round of TAS Test assessments will be undertaken in June this year. Please keep completing TAS Test each year when you are invited. We need yearly data as this makes TAS Test as accurate as possible.  

The study paper, “Brief webcam test of hand movements predicts episodic memory, executive function, and working memory in a community sample of cognitively asymptomatic older adults,” was led by PhD student Renjie Li and published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, a journal of the Alzheimer’s Association 

The University of Tasmania received funding from the Australian Government. Views and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of its authors, and may not be the same as those held by the Department of Health.

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