Hearing loss, cognitive ability, and dementia in men age 19–78 years

Merete Osler; Gunhild Tidemann Christensen; Erik Lykke Mortensen; Kaare Christensen; Ellen Garde; Maarten Pieter Rozing

doi:10.1007/s10654-018-0452-2

Hearing loss, cognitive ability, and dementia in men age 19–78 years

Merete Osler^*, Gunhild Tidemann Christensen, Erik Lykke Mortensen, Kaare Christensen, Ellen Garde, Maarten Pieter Rozing

^*Corresponding author for this work

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Hearing loss in later life has been associated with risk of dementia. The impact of risk factors for dementia may change during life, and it is unknown whether hearing loss early in midlife represents a risk factor for dementia. We examined whether hearing loss diagnosed in midlife was associated with an increased risk of dementia. A cohort comprising 942,567 Danish men enrolled in the mandatory conscription board examination was followed from conscription (age 19). Cognitive ability was measured at conscription, while hearing loss was ascertained either by physicians diagnosis at conscription or by the Danish National Patient Registry from 1977 to 2016 (ICD-8:388; 389; ICD-10:H90; H91). Differences in cognitive ability in relation to hearing loss at conscription were calculated using t test, while the risk of dementia associated with hearing loss was estimated using Cox regression with adjustment for cognitive ability, education, depression, diabetes, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease. Men with hearing loss at conscription had about 2 points (corresponding to 0.20 SD) lower mean cognitive score than those without hearing loss. During follow-up, 59,834 men had a hearing loss diagnosis, while 9114 were diagnosed with dementia. Midlife hearing loss was associated with an increased rate of dementia diagnosed before age 60 (adjusted Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.90 [95% CI 1.59–2.76]) or at a later age (adjusted HR = 1.15 [95% CI 1.06–1.25]). Our study supports the evidence that early identification and correction of hearing loss holds promise for prevention of dementia later in life.

Original language	English
Journal	European Journal of Epidemiology
Volume	34
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	125-130
Number of pages	6
ISSN	0393-2990
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-018-0452-2
Publication status	Published - 2019

Keywords

Cognitive ability
Cohort study
Dementia
Hearing loss

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This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/s10654-018-0452-2

Cite this

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title = "Hearing loss, cognitive ability, and dementia in men age 19–78 years",

abstract = "Hearing loss in later life has been associated with risk of dementia. The impact of risk factors for dementia may change during life, and it is unknown whether hearing loss early in midlife represents a risk factor for dementia. We examined whether hearing loss diagnosed in midlife was associated with an increased risk of dementia. A cohort comprising 942,567 Danish men enrolled in the mandatory conscription board examination was followed from conscription (age 19). Cognitive ability was measured at conscription, while hearing loss was ascertained either by physicians diagnosis at conscription or by the Danish National Patient Registry from 1977 to 2016 (ICD-8:388; 389; ICD-10:H90; H91). Differences in cognitive ability in relation to hearing loss at conscription were calculated using t test, while the risk of dementia associated with hearing loss was estimated using Cox regression with adjustment for cognitive ability, education, depression, diabetes, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease. Men with hearing loss at conscription had about 2 points (corresponding to 0.20 SD) lower mean cognitive score than those without hearing loss. During follow-up, 59,834 men had a hearing loss diagnosis, while 9114 were diagnosed with dementia. Midlife hearing loss was associated with an increased rate of dementia diagnosed before age 60 (adjusted Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.90 [95% CI 1.59–2.76]) or at a later age (adjusted HR = 1.15 [95% CI 1.06–1.25]). Our study supports the evidence that early identification and correction of hearing loss holds promise for prevention of dementia later in life.",

keywords = "Cognitive ability, Cohort study, Dementia, Hearing loss",

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T1 - Hearing loss, cognitive ability, and dementia in men age 19–78 years

AU - Osler, Merete

AU - Christensen, Gunhild Tidemann

AU - Mortensen, Erik Lykke

AU - Christensen, Kaare

AU - Garde, Ellen

AU - Rozing, Maarten Pieter

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Hearing loss in later life has been associated with risk of dementia. The impact of risk factors for dementia may change during life, and it is unknown whether hearing loss early in midlife represents a risk factor for dementia. We examined whether hearing loss diagnosed in midlife was associated with an increased risk of dementia. A cohort comprising 942,567 Danish men enrolled in the mandatory conscription board examination was followed from conscription (age 19). Cognitive ability was measured at conscription, while hearing loss was ascertained either by physicians diagnosis at conscription or by the Danish National Patient Registry from 1977 to 2016 (ICD-8:388; 389; ICD-10:H90; H91). Differences in cognitive ability in relation to hearing loss at conscription were calculated using t test, while the risk of dementia associated with hearing loss was estimated using Cox regression with adjustment for cognitive ability, education, depression, diabetes, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease. Men with hearing loss at conscription had about 2 points (corresponding to 0.20 SD) lower mean cognitive score than those without hearing loss. During follow-up, 59,834 men had a hearing loss diagnosis, while 9114 were diagnosed with dementia. Midlife hearing loss was associated with an increased rate of dementia diagnosed before age 60 (adjusted Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.90 [95% CI 1.59–2.76]) or at a later age (adjusted HR = 1.15 [95% CI 1.06–1.25]). Our study supports the evidence that early identification and correction of hearing loss holds promise for prevention of dementia later in life.

AB - Hearing loss in later life has been associated with risk of dementia. The impact of risk factors for dementia may change during life, and it is unknown whether hearing loss early in midlife represents a risk factor for dementia. We examined whether hearing loss diagnosed in midlife was associated with an increased risk of dementia. A cohort comprising 942,567 Danish men enrolled in the mandatory conscription board examination was followed from conscription (age 19). Cognitive ability was measured at conscription, while hearing loss was ascertained either by physicians diagnosis at conscription or by the Danish National Patient Registry from 1977 to 2016 (ICD-8:388; 389; ICD-10:H90; H91). Differences in cognitive ability in relation to hearing loss at conscription were calculated using t test, while the risk of dementia associated with hearing loss was estimated using Cox regression with adjustment for cognitive ability, education, depression, diabetes, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease. Men with hearing loss at conscription had about 2 points (corresponding to 0.20 SD) lower mean cognitive score than those without hearing loss. During follow-up, 59,834 men had a hearing loss diagnosis, while 9114 were diagnosed with dementia. Midlife hearing loss was associated with an increased rate of dementia diagnosed before age 60 (adjusted Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.90 [95% CI 1.59–2.76]) or at a later age (adjusted HR = 1.15 [95% CI 1.06–1.25]). Our study supports the evidence that early identification and correction of hearing loss holds promise for prevention of dementia later in life.

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