Familial aggregation of age-related hearing loss in an epidemiological study of older adults.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the genetic contributions to presbycusis.


METHODS
Presbycusis was assessed by audiometric measurements at 3 waves of the population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study (EHLS). Measurements from the most recent hearing examination were used, at which time the subjects (3,510 participants from the EHLS study) were between 48 and 100 years of age. Heritability of presbycusis was estimated using maximum likelihood methods in 973 biological relative pairs from 376 families. Familial aggregation was also evaluated by tetrachoric correlations, odds ratios, and lambda statistics in 594 sibling pairs from 373 sibships.


RESULTS
The prevalence of presbycusis conformed to previous research, increasing with age and male sex. Heritability estimates for presbycusis adjusted for age, sex, education level, and exposure to work noise exceeded 50%, and siblings of an affected relative were at 30% higher risk. When stratified by sex, estimates of familial aggregation were higher in women than men.


CONCLUSIONS
There is evidence that genetic factors contribute to age-related hearing loss in this population-based sample. The familial aggregation is stronger in women than in men.
Raynor
Laura A
LA
Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 S. Second Street, Minneapolis, MN 55454-1015, USA. rayno007@umn.edu
Pankow
James S
JS
Miller
Michael B
MB
Huang
Guan-Hua
GH
Dalton
Dayna
D
Klein
Ronald
R
Klein
Barbara E K
BE
Cruickshanks
Karen J
KJ
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011304:Presbycusis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors