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. 2016 Feb;31(1):34-9.
doi: 10.1177/1533317514537549. Epub 2014 Jun 6.

Apolipoprotein E Allele and Hearing Thresholds in Older Adults

David J Mener  1 , Joshua Betz  2 , Kristine Yaffe  3 , Tamara B Harris  4 , Elizabeth P Helzner  5 , Suzanne Satterfield  6 , Denise K Houston  7 , Elsa S Strotmeyer  8 , Sheila R Pratt  9 , Eleanor M Simonsick  10 , Frank R Lin; Health ABC Study
Affiliations

Apolipoprotein E Allele and Hearing Thresholds in Older Adults

David J Mener et al. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Whether apolipoprotein E (APOE) E4 allele status which is associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline is also associated with hearing impairment is unknown.

Methods: We studied 1833 men and women enrolled in the Health, Aging and Body Composition study. Regression models adjusted for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors were used to assess the cross-sectional association of APOE-E4 status with individual pure tone hearing thresholds and the 4-frequency pure tone average (0.5-4 kHz) in the better hearing ear.

Results: Compared to participants with no APOE-E4 alleles, participants with 1 allele had better thresholds at 4.0 kHz (β = -2.72 dB, P = .013) and 8.0 kHz (β = -3.05 kHz, P = .006), and participants with 2 alleles had better hearing thresholds at 1.0 kHz (β = -8.56 dB, P = .021).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that APOE-E4 allele status may be marginally associated with better hearing thresholds in older adults.

Keywords: aging; apolipoprotein E; cognition; dementia; hearing loss; hearing thresholds.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Dr. Lin reports being a consultant to Pfizer, Cochlear Corp, & Autifony, serves on the scientific advisory board for Autifony, and has been a speaker for Amplifon & Cochlear Corp. Sheila Pratt was supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Better ear mean audiograms by E4 allele status. Error bars correspond to 95% confidence intervals. Adjusted for age, sex, race, education, study site, diabetes, smoking status, hypertension, stroke, and total fasting cholesterol.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Li L, Simonsick EM, Ferrucci L, Lin FR. Hearing loss and gait speed among older adults in the United States. Gait Posture. 2013;38(1):25–29. - PMC - PubMed

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