Association Between Speech Reception Threshold in Noise and Multimorbidity: The UK Biobank Study

Objective. To investigate the association between hearing function, as approached with the functional auditory capacity, and multimorbidity. Study Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. The UK Biobank was established from 2006 to 2010 in the United Kingdom. This cross-sectional analysis included 165,524 participants who provided baseline information on hearing function. Methods. Functional auditory capacity was measured with a digit triplet test. Three categories were defined according to the speech reception threshold in noise (SRTn): normal (SRTn < -5.5 dB signal-to-noise ratio [SNR]), insufficient (SRTn <= -5.5 to >= -3.5 dB SNR) and poor hearing function (SRTn > -3.5 dB SNR). To define multimorbidity, 9 chronic diseases were considered, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease, stroke, cancer, depression, osteoarthritis, coronary heart disease, and diabetes; multimorbidity was defined as the coexistence of 2 or more in the same individual. Analyses were conducted using logistic models adjusted for relevant confounders. Results. Among the study participants, 54.5% were women, and the mean (range) age was 56.7 (39-72) years. The prevalence of insufficient and poor hearing function and multimorbidity was 13% and 13.2%, respectively. In comparison with having a normal SRTn, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of multimorbidity associated with insufficient SRTn was 1.13 (1.08-1.18), and with poor SRTn was 1.25 (1.14-1.37). Conclusion. Insufficient and poor hearing function was associated with multimorbidity. This association suggests common biological pathways for many of the considered morbidities.