title: Hearing sensitivity in older adults: associations with cardiovascular risk factors in the health, aging and body composition study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors and age-associated hearing loss in a cohort of older black and white adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study, a community-based cohort study of older adults from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two thousand forty-nine well-functioning adults (mean age 77.5; 37% black).
  
  
  METHODS
  Pure-tone audiometry measurement and history of clinical CVD were obtained at the fourth annual follow-up visit. Pure-tone averages in decibels reflecting low (250, 500, and 1,000 Hz), middle (500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hz), and high (2,000, 4,000, and 8,000 Hz) frequencies were calculated for each ear. CVD risk factors, aortic pulse-wave velocity (PWV), and ankle-arm index (AAI) were obtained at study baseline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In sex-stratified models, after adjustment for age, race, study site, and occupational noise exposure, risk factors associated with poorer hearing sensitivity in men included high triglyceride levels, high resting heart rate, and history of smoking. In women, poor hearing sensitivity was associated with high body mass index, high resting heart rate, fast PWV, and low AAI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Modifiable risk factors for CVD may play a role in the development of age-related hearing loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York 11203, USA. Elizabeth.Helzner@downstate.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Helzner
authors.forename: Ami S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Sheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pratt
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sutton-Tyrrell
authors.forename: Jane A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cauley
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Talbott
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kenyon
authors.forename: Tamara B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Satterfield
authors.forename: Jingzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Anne B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Newman
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D001823:Body Composition; D001835:Body Weight; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011304:Presbycusis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States