Hearing Impairment Tied to Higher Risk for New Parkinson Disease Diagnosis
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Jan. 21, 2025 -- Hearing impairment is a risk factor for incident Parkinson disease (PD), according to a study published online in the February issue of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders.
Megan Rose Readman, Ph.D., from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed whether hearing impairment is a risk factor for PD incidence. The analysis included 159,395 individuals participating in the U.K. Biobank who underwent the Digit Triplet Test and were free of PD at baseline.
The researchers found 810 cases of probable PD during a median follow-up of 14.24 years, with the risk for incident PD increasing with baseline hearing impairment (hazard ratio, 1.57 for every 10-dB increase in speech-reception threshold). When hearing impairment was categorized in accordance with U.K. Biobank speech-reception threshold norms, neither "insufficient" nor "poor" hearing significantly influenced PD risk compared with "normal" hearing.
"The congruence of the findings obtained here with prior evidence further support the assumption that hearing impairment and Parkinson's are related through a common neurological cause," the authors write. "These findings have significant implications for clinical practice; however, sample limitations necessitate further analyses in alternative populations to substantiate these findings prior to clinical recommendations being made."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted January 2025
Read this next
Metabolic Syndrome Linked to Increased Risk for Parkinson Disease
THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 -- Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with an increased risk for Parkinson disease (PD), according to a study published online Aug. 20 in...
Adults With Hearing Loss Using Hearing Aids Have Reduced Dementia Risk
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20, 2025 -- Adults with hearing loss (HL) with hearing aids have a reduced risk for dementia, according to a research letter published online Aug. 18 in JAMA...
Hearing Loss Linked to Lower Odds of Employment, Lower Income
THURSDAY, Aug. 7, 2025 -- Hearing loss is associated with a reduced likelihood of employment and with lower income among young adults, according to a study published online Aug. 1...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.