Hearing Loss and Parkinson's Disease Risk in Veterans
Author Information
Author(s): Neilson Lee, Reavis Kelly, Wiedrick Jack, Scott Gregory
Primary Institution: Oregon Health & Science University
Hypothesis
Does hearing loss increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease in US veterans?
Conclusion
Hearing loss increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease in a dose-dependent manner.
Supporting Evidence
- Hearing loss increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease in a dose-dependent manner.
- Worse hearing confers a higher risk of PD.
- Dispensation of a hearing aid within two years of the audiogram attenuated the risk of incident PD.
Takeaway
If you have trouble hearing, it might make you more likely to get Parkinson's disease. Using hearing aids can help reduce this risk.
Methodology
An electronic health record-based cohort study using inverse probability of treatment weighting to calculate cumulative incidence of PD.
Participant Demographics
US military veterans with objective audiogram data.
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
95% CI: 0.9, 3.1 for mild hearing loss; 95% CI: 3.7, 7.1 for moderate; 95% CI: 3.3, 8.3 for moderately-severe; 95% CI: 4, 17.2 for severe-to-profound.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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