From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishimpairmentim‧pair‧ment /ɪmˈpeəmənt $ ɪmˈper-/ noun [countable, uncountable] → mental/visual/cognitive/hearing etc impairment
Examples from the Corpus
impairment• It is probably due to the accompanying impairment in protein metabolism.• The changes resulted in an impairment of the firm's ability to borrow money.• Most measures of morbidity which assess functional impairment, of which sickness absence is one, are influenced by factors other than health.• Hearing impairment, Hearing Science notes, afflicts one-in-four persons 65 or older and one-in-three 75 or older.• The occurence of acute hepatic impairment with intravenous amiodarone does not necessarily preclude the use of this drug by mouth.• Pollution, though often more insidious in its effects, can cause ill-health and even permanent intellectual impairment.• Need I add that impairment is more to my liking than good health?• Interestingly, the impairment is of the ability to form new memories, not the ability to recall stored memories. 