Association of lifestyle behaviours with hearing loss

Association of lifestyle behaviours with hearing loss
Researchers from the Autonomous University of Madrid examined the combined association of five healthy lifestyle behaviours with hearing loss (HL) in the UK Biobank cohort, established between 2006 and 2010 in the United Kingdom.
Their longitudinal analysis included 61,958 participants aged 40 to 70 years from April 2007 to December 2016. The healthy behaviours examined were: never smoking, high level of physical activity, high diet quality, moderate alcohol intake, and optimal sleep. Hearing loss was self-reported at baseline and in any physical exam during the follow-up.
Over a median follow-up of 3.9±2.5 years, 3,072 (5.0%) participants reported incident hearing loss. After adjustment for potential confounders, including age, social factors, exposure to high-intensity noise, ototoxic medication, and comorbidity, the HRs of hearing loss associated with having 1, 2, 3, and 4 to 5 vs 0 behaviours were: 0.85 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.96), 0.85 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.96), 0.82 (95% CI, 0.71 to 0.94), and 0.80 (95% CI, 0.67 to 0.97), respectively. The researchers estimated that the population attributable risk percent for not adhering to any five low-risk lifestyle behaviours was 15.6%.
In this large study, an increasing number of healthy behaviours (including moderate drinking) were associated with decreased risk of hearing loss.
Source: Yévenes-Briones H, Caballero FF, Banegas JR, Rodríguez-Artalejo F, Lopez-Garcia E. Association of Lifestyle Behaviors With Hearing Loss: The UK Biobank Cohort Study. Mayo Clin Proc. 2022 Nov;97(11):2040-2049. doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2022.03.029.