Is hearing loss a risk factor for idiopathic Parkinson’s disease? An English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Analysis

Observations that hearing loss is a substantial risk factor for dementia may be accounted for by a common pathology. Mitochondrial oxidative stress and alterations in α-synuclein pathology may be common pathology candidates. Crucially, these candidate pathologies are implicated in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Consequently, hearing loss may be a risk factor for PD. Subsequently, this prospective cohort study of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing examines whether hearing loss is a risk factor for PD longitudinally. Participants reporting self-reported hearing capabilities and no PD diagnosis prior to entry (N = 14,340) were used. A joint longitudinal and survival model showed that during a median follow up of 10 years (SD = 4.67 years) age increased PD risk (p < .001), but not self-reported hearing capability (p = .402). Additionally, an exploratory binary logistic regression modelling the influence of hearing loss identified using a screening test (n = 4,812) on incident PD indicated that neither moderate (p = .794), nor moderately severe/severe hearing loss (p = .5210), increased PD risk, compared with normal hearing. Whilst discrepancies with prior literature may suggest a neurological link between hearing loss and PD, further large-scale analyses using clinically derived hearing loss are needed.