Publications by authors named "Barbara Steptoe"
Objectives: The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study provides a unique opportunity to document the progression of ear health and hearing ability within the same cohort of individuals from birth. This investigation draws on hearing data from 5 to 13 years and again at 45 years of age, to explore the associations between childhood hearing variables and hearing and listening ability at age 45.
Design: Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess associations between childhood hearing (otological status and mid-frequency pure-tone average) and (a) age 45 peripheral hearing ability (mid-frequency pure-tone average and high-frequency pure-tone average), and (b) age 45 listening ability (listening in spatialized noise and subjective questionnaire on listening experiences).
Importance: The retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL) have been proposed as potential biomarkers for Alzheimer disease (AD). Although a number of studies have shown that knowing the thickness of RNFL and GCL can help differentiate between patients with AD and healthy controls, it is unclear whether these associations are observable earlier in life.
Objective: To examine whether RNFL and GCL thickness was associated with global cognitive performance in middle age and in childhood and with a decline in cognitive performance from childhood to adulthood and whether RNFL and GCL thickness was associated with decline in specific cognitive domains over the same period.