Home › Research › Prevention and risk
Hearing loss and incident dementia
Lin FR, Metter EJ, O'Brien RJ, Resnick SM, Zonderman AB, Ferrucci L.. Archives of neurology, 2011-02-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To determine whether hearing loss is associated with incident all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD). Design Prospective study of 639 individuals who underwent audiometric testing and were dementia free in 1990 to 1994. Hearing loss was defined by a pure-tone average of hearing thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz in the better-hearing ear (normal, 70 dB [n = 6]). Diagnosis of incident dementia was made by consensus diagnostic conference. Cox proportional hazards models were used to model time to incident dementia according to severity of hearing loss and were adjusted for age, sex, race, education, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and hypertension. Setting Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Participants Six hundred thirty-nine individuals aged 36 to 90 years. Main outcome measure Incident cases of all-cause dementia and AD until May 31, 2008. Results During a median follow-up of 11.9 years, 58 cases of incident all-cause dementia were diagnosed, of which 37 cases were AD. The risk of incident all-cause dementia increased log linearly with the severity of baseline hearing loss (1.27 per 10-dB loss; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.50). Compared with normal hearing, the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for incident all-cause dementia was 1.89 (1.00-3.58) for mild hearing loss, 3.00 (1.43-6.30) for moderate hearing loss, and 4.94 (1.09-22.40) for severe hearing loss. The risk of incident AD also increased with baseline hearing loss (1.20 per 10 dB of hearing loss) but with a wider confidence interval (0.94-1.53). Conclusions Hearing loss is independently associated with incident all-cause dementia. Whether hearing loss is a marker for early-stage dementia or is actually a modifiable risk factor for dementia deserves further study.
Key findings
- Objective To determine whether hearing loss is associated with incident all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD).
- Results During a median follow-up of 11.9 years, 58 cases of incident all-cause dementia were diagnosed, of which 37 cases were AD.
- Compared with normal hearing, the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for incident all-cause dementia was 1.89 (1.00-3.58) for mild hearing loss, 3.00 (1.43-6.30) for moderate hearing loss, and 4.94 (1.09-22.40) for severe hearing loss.
- Conclusions Hearing loss is independently associated with incident all-cause dementia.
Why it matters
In 639 adults from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging whose hearing was measured by audiometry, dementia risk rose with worse hearing over a median 11.9 years: 1.27 times per 10-dB loss (95% CI 1.06–1.50), across 58 dementia cases. For Alzheimer disease alone (37 cases) the trend was similar but not conclusive (1.20 per 10 dB; 95% CI 0.94–1.53). This is an association. The authors say it is still open whether hearing loss is an early marker of dementia or a risk factor that could be modified.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Prevention →
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants639
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 71/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Archives of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Archives of Neurology: journal h-index 353 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2011 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 639 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,544 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 90.8 citations a year over 17 year(s) since 2011 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 19.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 55 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 322 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Luigi Ferrucci: h-index 245 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | National Institutes of Health: institution h-index 2,723 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21320988) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 71 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1001/archneurol.2010.362
- PubMed: 21320988
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Lin, F. R., Metter, E. J., O'Brien, R. J., Resnick, S. M., Zonderman, A. B., & Ferrucci, L. (2011). Hearing loss and incident dementia. Archives of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneurol.2010.362
Vancouver
Lin FR, Metter EJ, O'Brien RJ, Resnick SM, Zonderman AB, Ferrucci L. Hearing loss and incident dementia. Archives of neurology. 2011. doi:10.1001/archneurol.2010.362. PMID: 21320988.
BibTeX
@article{lin2011-21320988,
author = {Lin, F. R. and Metter, E. J. and O'Brien, R. J. and Resnick, S. M. and Zonderman, A. B. and Ferrucci, L.},
title = {{Hearing loss and incident dementia}},
journal = {Archives of neurology},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1001/archneurol.2010.362},
pmid = {21320988},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/archneurol.2010.362}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
55 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.
Related studies in Prevention and risk
Also tagged “prevalence”
1,224 studies in the library carry the topic tag “prevalence”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,224 tagged studies.