Listen to Your Heart and Mind: A Pilot Mixed‐Methods Study on Combined Screening for Raised Blood Pressure, Atrial Fibrillation, Cognitive Impairment and Hearing Loss in Older Adults

ABSTRACT Objective To determine the potential feasibility and acceptability of combined screening for raised blood pressure (BP), atrial fibrillation (AF) and cognitive impairment (CI) in older adults within a setting of hearing health assessment for detection of hearing loss. Methods We recruited participants aged 65 years or older ( n = 35; mean age 73 ± 6 years, 51% females) from the community to attend a single visit lasting approximately 60–90 min. Prior to a comprehensive hearing assessment, BP was measured with an automatic BP monitor with AF detection, and CI screening was conducted using the patient section of the General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition instrument. A subset of participants ( n = 16, 50% females) was interviewed post study to evaluate acceptability. Results A total of 21 positive screens (six raised BP; two possible AF; 13 hearing loss) and 12 potential positive screens for possible CI were detected in 25 (71%) participants. Eight participants (23%) had more than one newly detected condition. Interviews revealed that combined screening was feasible and acceptable as participants felt it was ‘ convenient, ’ ‘ saves time ’ and ‘ more efficient .’ Conclusions Combined screening for raised BP, AF and CI in older adults within a hearing health assessment setting appears feasible and was generally perceived positively by participants in this pilot study. Further implementation studies should be conducted with process and outcome evaluation embedded to confirm feasibility and acceptability as well as to evaluate cost‐effectiveness and health outcomes for combined screening in older adults.