Increased risk of chronic diseases and multimorbidity in middle-aged and elderly individuals with early vision, hearing, or dual sensory impairments: insights from prospective cohort studies and Mendelian randomization analysis

Sensory impairments (SI), including vision (VI), hearing (HI), and dual sensory impairments (DSI), are prevalent with aging, but their impact on disease risk remains unclear. This study investigates the epidemiological and genetic associations between SIs and 10 chronic disease categories and multimorbidity. Using the CHARLS study, participants were classified by their self-reported VI/HI/DSI status in 2011 and 2013 into groups: "new onset, remission, persistent, and no SI." Their chronic disease incidence was tracked until 2018 in sub-cohorts respectively. Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses used genetic instruments from UK Biobank GWAS data on 88,250/504,307 individuals for vision/hearing loss, with outcome datasets from consortia including FinnGen, DIAMANTE, CKDGen, PGC, GWAS Catalog, and International Parkinson's Disease Genomics Consortium. The cohort study revealed that persistent HI significantly increased the risk of heart disease (P < 0.001, HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.31–2.03), stroke (P 0.004, HR 1.59, 95% CI 1.16–2.18), chronic lung disease (P 0.002, HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.17–1.99), and emotional, nervous, or psychiatric problems (P 0.016, HR 2.03, 95% CI 1.14–3.60). Persistent VI was significantly associated with diabetes or high blood sugar (DM/Hglu) (P 0.012, HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.11–2.38) and chronic lung disease (P 0.042, HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.02–2.31). MR confirmed these strong or suggestive associations, indicating that HI significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events by 61–170%, bronchitis by 160%, and schizophrenia by 36%. In addition, VI significantly raised the risk of hyperglycemia or diabetes by 2–4% and the risk of lung function decline. Additionally, cohort studies confirmed that early DSI significantly raised the risk of multiple diseases, while MR identified genetic links between VI and hepatic failure, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease, and between HI and hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and renal failure. This study provides evidence from epidemiological or genetic perspectives demonstrates that early exposure to HI/VI/DSI increases the risk of developing chronic diseases. These findings underscore the need for continuous monitoring and timely intervention for SI to manage chronic disease risks in aging populations.