The study involved 1,523 adults aged 50 and older, including 651 men and 872 women, who underwent comprehensive health check-ups. The participants had their hearing evaluated using pure tone audiometry (PTA), which measures hearing sensitivity across a range of frequencies, and their BMD was assessed through dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the lumbar vertebrae (LV) and femoral regions.
The results revealed that women over 50 with lower BMD, particularly in the lumbar spine (L1–L4), were significantly more likely to experience hearing loss. The association was strongest at higher frequencies of 4,000 Hz and 8,000 Hz. In fact, after adjusting for age and other potential risk factors, women with osteoporosis were over twice as likely to have hearing impairment at 4,000 Hz (odds ratio [OR] 2.078; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.092–3.954) and nearly 3-times as likely at 8,000 Hz (OR 2.648; 95% CI 1.543–4.544).
Also, no significant association was observed in men, nor was there a link between hearing loss and BMD measured at the femoral neck or total femur in women. These findings suggest that bone health in the lumbar region may play a particularly critical role in preserving hearing, specifically at higher sound frequencies that are important for understanding speech and detecting environmental cues.
The participant demographics were broken down by gender, age, and BMD status. Hearing thresholds were measured at multiple frequencies, allowing researchers to pinpoint that the strongest correlations occurred at 4,000 Hz and 8,000 Hz. Additionally, the data compared BMD at different skeletal sites, showing that only lumbar spine density had a statistically significant relationship with high-frequency hearing impairment.
Multiple logistic regression analyses further confirmed the robustness of these associations, accounting for potential confounding factors such as age, lifestyle, and comorbidities. Overall, these findings illuminate the importance of monitoring bone health as part of overall wellness, particularly for women entering the postmenopausal years.
Source:
Lee, S.-H., Lee, S.-S., Park, H.-Y., & Kim, B.-T. (2025). Low bone mineral density is associated with high-frequency hearing impairment in women over 50: an observational study in Korea. Korean Journal of Family Medicine, 46(6), 418–425. https://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.23.0130
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