Abstract
There is limited evidence examining the association between physical fitness and hearing loss. Although the precise mechanisms are not fully understood, it may include beneficial changes to cochlear blood circulation, central nervous system, and oxidative stress. PURPOSE: To investigate the association between muscular and performance fitness (MPF) and the incidence of hearing loss among Japanese people in the Niigata Wellness Study. METHODS: Participants included 21,907 people (13,992 men) [median (interquartile range) age 49 (43-54) years] free of hearing loss who underwent physical fitness tests in 2001. MPF index was calculated using a summed z-score by sex and age from grip strength, vertical jump, single-leg balance with eyes closed, forward bending, and whole-body reaction time. The participants were divided into quartiles according to the MPF index and each physical fitness test. During 2002-2007, participants were followed for development of hearing loss, which was defined as > 30 dB at 1 kHz and/or > 40 dB at 4 kHz in the worse ear on pure-tone audiometry. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the incidence of hearing loss were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models after adjusting for age, age2, sex, body mass index, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. RESULTS: During the follow-up, 2,765 participants developed hearing loss. The HRs (95% CIs) for developing hearing loss across quartiles of MPF index (lowest to highest) were 1.00 (reference), 0.88 (0.79-0.97), 0.83 (0.75-0.93), and 0.79 (0.71-0.88) (P for trend < 0.001). Vertical jump, single-leg balance, and whole-body reaction time were significantly inversely associated with incident hearing loss (P for trend < 0.001, < 0.001, and 0.043, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: MPF may be associated with lower risk of incident hearing loss. Further studies are required to consider other confounding factors such as noise exposure.
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