Reed, Nicholas S.;
Huddle, Matthew G.;
Betz, Joshua;
Power, Melinda C.;
Pankow, James S.;
Gottesman, Rebecca;
Richey Sharrett, A.;
Mosley, Thomas H.;
Lin, Frank R.;
Deal, Jennifer A.
Association of Midlife Hypertension with Late‐Life Hearing Loss
You can manage bookmarks using lists, please log in to your user account for this.
Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Association of Midlife Hypertension with Late‐Life Hearing Loss
Contributor:
Reed, Nicholas S.;
Huddle, Matthew G.;
Betz, Joshua;
Power, Melinda C.;
Pankow, James S.;
Gottesman, Rebecca;
Richey Sharrett, A.;
Mosley, Thomas H.;
Lin, Frank R.;
Deal, Jennifer A.
Description:
<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>To investigate the association of midlife hypertension with late‐life hearing impairment.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Study Design</jats:title><jats:p>Data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, an ongoing prospective longitudinal population‐based study (baseline, 1987‐1989).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting</jats:title><jats:p>Washington County, Maryland, research field site.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Subjects and Methods</jats:title><jats:p>Subjects included 248 community‐dwelling men and women aged 67 to 89 years in 2013. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure were measured at each of 5 study visits from 1987‐1989 to 2013. Hypertension was defined by elevated systolic or diastolic blood pressure or antihypertensive medication use. A 4‐frequency (0.5‐4 kHz) better‐hearing ear pure tone average in decibels hearing loss (dB HL) was calculated from pure tone audiometry measured in 2013. A cutoff of 40 dB HL was used to indicate clinically significant moderate to severe hearing impairment. Hearing thresholds at 5 frequencies (0.5‐8 kHz) were also considered separately.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Forty‐seven participants (19%) had hypertension at baseline (1987‐1989), as opposed to 183 (74%) in 2013. The SBP association with late‐life pure tone average differed by the time of measurement, with SBP measured at earlier visits associated with poorer hearing; the difference in pure tone average per 10–mm Hg SBP measured was 1.43 dB HL (95% CI, 0.32‐2.53) at baseline versus −0.43 dB HL (95% CI, −1.41 to 0.55) in 2013. Baseline hypertension was associated with higher thresholds (poorer hearing) at 4 frequencies (1, 2, 4, 8 kHz).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>Midlife SBP was associated with poorer hearing measured 25 years later. Further analysis into the longitudinal relationship between hypertension and hearing impairment is warranted.</jats:p></jats:sec>