Millions of people aged 50 or over in the UK have undiagnosed sight or hearing problems, according to research, prompting calls for that age group to have checkups more regularly.

Doctors involved in the research said the findings were “deeply concerning” and warned that those affected were at risk of falls, mental ill-health and of leading socially restricted lives.

One in four people aged 50 and over – 6.7 million people – cannot see clearly out of one or both eyes, according to a pilot stage of the UK national eye health and hearing study.

And three in four older Britons – 20.3 million people – suffer from some form of hearing loss in one or both ears, according to the study, the first of its kind.

The research uncovered “widespread hidden sensory loss”, the sight and hearing experts involved in the study said, with many of those affected unaware of their condition.

Rupert Bourne, a professor of ophthalmology at Anglia Ruskin University and the study’s principal investigator, said: “These figures are deeply concerning. They show that sensory health is being overlooked, even among high-risk groups. We are missing critical opportunities to prevent avoidable sight and hearing loss.”

The findings are based on the examination of more than 500 people aged 50 or over living at home or in care homes in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire.

Extrapolated for the UK population as a whole, the findings suggest:

  • 6.7 million people in the UK aged 50 or over have trouble seeing out of one or both eyes.

  • 2.4 million are visually impaired in one eye

  • 20.3 million have some form of hearing loss in one or both ears.

  • 7.7 million cannot hear clearly with both ears.

Bourne said: “We are fortunate enough to live in a country that has a national health service which offers universal care, free at the point of delivery. Yet despite this, and free NHS eye tests from the age of 60, one in four of the over-50s have vision impairment in either or both eyes, much of which could have been prevented.”

The study uncovered significant “unmet need” for help with sight and hearing health. Many of those they examined said their hearing was better than tests showed it was, Bourne said.

Dr Jameel Muzaffar, an ear, nose and throat consultant at University Hospital Birmingham NHS trust and co-author of the findings, said: “We know from the study that lots of people have problems with hearing that they’re just not aware of.”

He and Bourne said the results were particularly worrying given the link between dementia and untreated sight or hearing problems.

Hearing loss and vision loss both increase the risk of dementia, according to the most recent findings from the Lancet medical journal’s commission on how to prevent the disease, which reported in July last year. It identified depression, high blood pressure, air pollution and poor diet as other risk factors.

Sight loss is estimated to cost the UK £58bn a year in lost productivity and through the burden it places on the NHS, the wider care system, families and carers.

Michael Bowen, the director of knowledge and research at the College of Optometrists, said: “The study’s findings highlight how many people are not attending for regular eye tests, where these eye conditions would be picked up, even though the over-60s are eligible for free NHS eye tests across the UK.”

The study’s authors say the NHS should make much wider use of mobile diagnostic tests in non-hospital settings, such as health clinics and care homes, to identify and treat sensory impairment.