Diet Quality and the Risk of Impaired Speech Reception Threshold in Noise: The UK Biobank cohort

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies have examined the association between several diet quality indexes and risk of hearing loss, based on self-reported information or on audiometry test, with inconsistent results. However, the impact of healthy diets on the capacity to listening in noise, a proxy of disability due to hearing loss, is unknown. This research assessed the prospective association between five diet quality indexes and the speech reception threshold in noise in the UK Biobank study.Design: Prospective cohort with 105,592 participants aged ≥40 years. At baseline, adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener, the alternate Mediterranean Diet score, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, the Alternate Healthy Eating Index-2010, and the healthful Plant-Based Diet Index were assessed. Functional auditory capacity was measured with a digit triplet test, and impairment was defined as a speech reception threshold in noise >−3.5 dB in any physical exam during the follow-up.Results: Over a median follow-up of 3.2 (SD: 2.1) years, 1704 participants showed impaired speech reception threshold in noise. After adjusting for potential confounders, the hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of impairment per 1-SD increase in the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener, alternate Mediterranean Diet score, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, Alternate Healthy Eating Index-2010 and healthful Plant-Based Diet Index scores were, respectively, 0.98 (0.94 to 1.03), 1.01 (0.96 to 1.06), 1.02 (0.97 to 1.07), 1.01 (0.96 to 1.06), and 1.00 (0.96 to 1.05). Results were similar when analyses were restricted to those >60 years, with British ethnicity, without chronic disease, without tinnitus or with optimal cognitive function.Conclusions: Adherence to a healthy diet did not show an association with the speech reception threshold in noise. More research is needed to identify the impact of individual foods or nutrients on this outcome.

The Risk of Hearing Impairment From Ambient Air Pollution and the Moderating Effect of a Healthy Diet: Findings From the United Kingdom Biobank

“…There was evidence that a healthy diet could protect against hearing impairment by reducing vascular damage, decreasing inflammation, and inhibiting oxidative damage ( Curhan et al, 2020 ; Yevenes-Briones et al, 2021 ). Based on similar mechanistic pathways, modifying the health effects of air pollution by diet may be possible.…”

“…A healthy diet might preserve hearing ( Spankovich and Le Prell, 2013 ; Curhan et al, 2018 , 2020 ), as described by their role in preventing chronic illnesses ( Yevenes-Briones et al, 2021 ). A healthy diet includes multiple components that support antioxidant function and protect against free radical damage ( Curhan et al, 2020 ), thereby regulating oxidative stress and delaying mitochondrial dysfunction ( Yevenes-Briones et al, 2021 ).…”

“…A healthy diet might preserve hearing ( Spankovich and Le Prell, 2013 ; Curhan et al, 2018 , 2020 ), as described by their role in preventing chronic illnesses ( Yevenes-Briones et al, 2021 ). A healthy diet includes multiple components that support antioxidant function and protect against free radical damage ( Curhan et al, 2020 ), thereby regulating oxidative stress and delaying mitochondrial dysfunction ( Yevenes-Briones et al, 2021 ). In addition, a healthy diet might be beneficial to hearing impairment by protecting microvascular and macrovascular damage to cochlear blood flow ( Appel et al, 2006 ; Fung et al, 2008 ), providing the essential nutrients for an adequate cochlear blood supply ( Yevenes-Briones et al, 2021 ), and reducing inflammation ( Neale et al, 2016 ).…”

“…A healthy diet includes multiple components that support antioxidant function and protect against free radical damage ( Curhan et al, 2020 ), thereby regulating oxidative stress and delaying mitochondrial dysfunction ( Yevenes-Briones et al, 2021 ). In addition, a healthy diet might be beneficial to hearing impairment by protecting microvascular and macrovascular damage to cochlear blood flow ( Appel et al, 2006 ; Fung et al, 2008 ), providing the essential nutrients for an adequate cochlear blood supply ( Yevenes-Briones et al, 2021 ), and reducing inflammation ( Neale et al, 2016 ). According to previous research, dietary patterns could modify the relationship between air pollution and health-related outcomes, such as cardiovascular disease mortality risk ( Lim et al, 2019 ) and cognitive function ( Zhu et al, 2022 ).…”

Associations of Midlife Diet Quality with Incident Dementia and Brain Structure: Findings from the UK Biobank Study

“…aMED score developed by Fung et al 26 was an adaptation of the MDS. It includes nine food components that are common in the Mediterranean-style diet adapted to the US population.…”