Abstract
Objectives: This study investigated associations of late midlife sleep characteristics with late-life hearing, which adds to the existing cross-sectional evidence and is novel in examining polysomnographic sleep measures and central auditory processing. Methods: A subset of Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study participants underwent sleep assessment in the Sleep Heart Health Study in 1996-1998 and hearing assessment in 2016-2017. Peripheral hearing thresholds (0.5-4 kHz) assessed by pure-tone audiometry were averaged to calculate speech-frequency pure-tone average in better-hearing ear (higher pure-tone average = worse hearing). Central auditory processing was measured by the Quick Speech-in-Noise Test (lower score = worse performance). Sleep was measured using polysomnography (time spent in stage 1, stage 2, stage 3/4, rapid eye movement sleep; sleep-disordered breathing [apnea-hypopnea index ≥ 5]) and self-report (habitual sleep duration; excessive daytime sleepiness [Epworth Sleepiness Scale 10]). Linear regression models adjusted for demographic and lifestyle factors with additional adjustment for cardiovascular factors. Results: Among 719 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities-Sleep Heart Health Study participants (61 ± 5 years, 54% female, 100% White), worse speech-frequency pure-tone average was found with sleep-disordered breathing (2.51 dB, 95% confidence interval: 0.27, 4.75) and excessive daytime sleepiness (3.35 dB, 95% confidence interval: 0.81, 5.90). Every additional hour of sleep when sleeping >8 hours was associated with worse Quick Speech-in-Noise score (1.61 points, 95% confidence interval: 0.03, 3.19). Every 10-minute increase in rapid eye movement sleep was associated with 0.14-point better Quick Speech-in-Noise score (95% confidence interval: 0.02, 0.25). Conclusions: Sleep abnormalities might be risk factors for late-life hearing loss. Future longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these novel findings and clarify the mechanisms.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 742-750 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Sleep Health |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 National Sleep Foundation
Keywords
- Aging
- Daytime sleepiness
- Hearing loss
- Sleep duration
- Sleep stages
- Sleep-disordered breathing
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article