Pure tone audiometry and cerebral pathology in healthy older adults. Issue 6 (27th May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Parker, Thomas; Keshavan, Ashvini; Buchannan, Sarah; Keuss, Sarah; Bamiou, Doris-Eva; Warren, Jason; Fox, Nick; Richards, Marcus; Schott, Jonathan
• Is Part Of: Journal of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry. Volume 93:Issue 6(2022)
• Page Start: A9
• Page End: A9
• Publication Date: 2022-05-27
• Subjects: Neurology -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2022-ABN.25
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-3050

Abstract

Abstract : Background: Hearing impairment may be a modifiable risk factor for dementia. However, it is unclear how hearing associates with pathologies relevant to dementia in preclinical populations. Methods: Data from 368 cognitively healthy individuals born during 1 week in 1946 (age range 69.2–71.9 years), who underwent structural MRI, 18F-florbetapir positron emission tomography, pure tone audiom- etry and cognitive testing as part of a neuroscience substudy the MRC National Survey of Health and Development were analysed. The aim of the analysis was to investigate whether pure tone audiometry performance predicted a range of cognitive and imaging outcomes relevant to dementia in older adults. Results: There was some evidence that poorer pure tone audiometry performance was associated with lower primary auditory cortex thickness, but no evidence that it predicted in vivo β-amyloid deposition, white matter hyperintensity volume, hippocampal volume or Alzheimer's disease-pattern cortical thickness. A negative association between pure tone audiometry and mini-mental state examination score was observed, but this was no longer evident after excluding a test item assessing repetition of a single phrase. Conclusion: Pure tone audiometry performance did not predict concurrent β-amyloid deposition, small vessel disease or Alzheimer's disease-pattern neurodegeneration, and had limited impact on cognitive function, in healthy adults aged approximately 70 years. [e-mail]