en Geriatric Medicine Geriatric Medicine Original Research: Clinical Science Original Research: Clinical Science <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-style:italic"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Background: </span></span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Hearing loss is the most prevalent sensory impairment among older adults and has been associated with various adverse health outcomes. Frailty syndrome is another major geriatric condition associated with increased morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate whether hearing loss is independently associated with frailty after adjusting for potential confounding factors.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Methods:</b> This cross-sectional analytical study included 600 older adults selected from the second phase of the Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP). After excluding participants with incomplete data, we randomly selected 300 participants from each hearing status group, yielding a final analytical sample of 600 participants: those with hearing loss and those without. This 1:1 allocation between hearing groups was created by the authors and does not reflect the natural distribution of hearing loss in the AHAP cohort. Frailty was assessed using the validated FRAIL questionnaire (frail: score &ge;3; non-frail: robust + pre-frail: score 0&ndash;2). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the association between hearing loss and frailty, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, education level, marital status, and comorbid chronic diseases.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Results:</b> In unadjusted analyses, hearing loss was significantly associated with higher odds of frailty (OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.60&ndash;3.20, </span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> < 0.001). Frailty was present in 43.0% of participants with hearing loss compared to 25.0% of those with normal hearing. After adjusting for confounding variables, hearing loss remained significantly associated with frailty (OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.25&ndash;2.90, </span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.003). Older age (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> < 0.001), female sex (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> < 0.001), multimorbidity (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> < 0.001), and hearing loss (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.003) were independently associated with frailty.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Conclusion: </b>Hearing loss was independently associated with frailty, even after adjusting for major confounding factors. These findings suggest that hearing loss is associated with frailty in Iranian older adults. Longitudinal studies using objective audiometric measures are necessary to determine whether this association is causal.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; Hearing loss, Frailty, Elderly, Aging 942 947 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-4513-4&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mehrshad Moghimi moghimimehrshad@gmail.com 2003194753284600100804 2003194753284600100804 No Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Khadijeh Ezoji dr.kh.ezoji@gmail.com 2003194753284600100805 2003194753284600100805 Yes Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babal, Iran Seyed Reza Hosseini hosseinim46@yahoo.com 2003194753284600100806 2003194753284600100806 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babal, Iran Ali Bijani alibijani@yahoo.com 2003194753284600100807 2003194753284600100807 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babal, Iran Ali Tavasoli dralitavasoli@yahoo.com 2003194753284600100808 2003194753284600100808 No Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Cancer Research Center, Health Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran