Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 1 pp 48—62
The association between obesity, diet quality and hearing loss in older adults
- 1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- 2 Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- 3 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- 4 Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- 5 Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Received: October 3, 2018 Accepted: December 6, 2018 Published: January 4, 2019
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101717How to Cite
Abstract
Background: With the aging population, the prevalence of age-related hearing loss will increase substantially. Prevention requires more knowledge on modifiable risk factors. Obesity and diet quality have been suggested to play a role in the etiology of age-related hearing loss. We aimed to investigate independent associations of body composition and diet quality with age-related hearing loss.
Methods: We performed cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses (follow-up: 4.4 years) in the population-based Rotterdam Study. At baseline (2006-2014), 2,906 participants underwent assessment of body composition, diet, and hearing. Of these 2,906 participants, 636 had hearing assessment at follow-up (2014-2016). Association of body composition and of diet quality with hearing loss were examined using multivariable linear regression models.
Results: Cross-sectionally, higher body mass index and fat mass index were associated with increased hearing thresholds. These associations did not remain statistically significant at follow-up. We found no associations between overall diet quality and hearing thresholds.
Conclusions: This study shows that a higher body mass index, and in particular a higher fat mass index, is related to age-related hearing loss. However, whether maintaining a healthy body composition may actually reduce the effects of age-related hearing loss in the aging population requires further longitudinal population-based research.
Abbreviations
BMI: body mass index; FMI: fat mass index; FFMI: fat-free mass index; dB: decibel; kHz: kilohertz; DXA: dual –energy X-ray absorptiometry; FFQ: food-frequency questionnaire; SD: standard deviation; CI: confidence interval; ISO: International Organization for Standardization.