Functional hearing impairment common in Parkinson’s disease: Insights from a pilot study

• Published in: Clinical neurology and neurosurgery 2024-11, Vol.246, p.108524, Article 108524
• Main Authors: Jose, Miguel, Nene, Devavrat, Choi, Mathilda Won Yong, Yu, Adam C., Small, Jeff, Mirian, Maryam, Jenstad, Lorienne, Appel-Cresswell, Silke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Anxiety; Apathy; Audiometry; Cognition; Ears & hearing; Functional hearing; Hearing in noise test; Hearing loss; Mental disorders; Movement disorders; Neurodegenerative diseases; Non-motor symptoms; Parkinson's disease; Pilot projects; Population; Quality of life; Regression analysis; Social interactions; Software; Standard deviation
• ISSN: 0303-8467; 1872-6968; 1872-6968
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2024.108524

Hearing impairments in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) have received limited attention in the past, possibly because PD patients often report no perceived hearing disability, yet negative consequences of hearing impairment might aggravate communication difficulties and social withdrawal. Our aim was to investigate functional hearing (speech in noise recognition) in PD and evaluate its relationship to neuropsychiatric symptoms, cognition and quality of life. Participants with PD were recruited in a tertiary movement disorder clinic. Demographic, audiological, neuropsychiatric and quality of life data were collected. Participants underwent pure tone audiometry (PTA) and Hearing in Noise test (HINT) as a part of their audiological evaluation. A total of 29 participants (mean age: 65.8±8.3 years, M:F= 1.6:1, mean disease duration 5.2 ± 4.0 years) completed the study. All assessments were done in the ON state. 19/29 (65.5 %) participants had normal tone audiometry for age; functional hearing loss, however, was present in 17/29 (58.6 %) according to the HINT. 65 % (11/17) of the affected participants had a disease duration of