018-23 – : Exploring Hearing Loss as a Risk Factor for Lewy Pathology Dementias

Recent evidence has implicated hearing loss (HL) as a potentially modifiable risk factor for incident dementia. Specifically, mild HL almost doubles dementia risk; moderate HL triples dementia risk; and severe HL increases dementia risk almost five times. Whilst the evidence is compelling, most prior studies consider an ‘all-cause’ dementia outcome. Dementia is an umbrella term used to categorise multiple, symptomatically similar, conditions. Thus, an ‘all-cause’ category does little to elucidate whether HL is a universal risk factor across dementia types. Subsequently, the present fellowship aims to determine (a) whether HL is a risk factor for Lewy Pathology dementias (Parkinson’s Dementia and Dementia with Lewy Bodies); and (b) the experience of HL for people with Lewy Pathology dementias. To achieve the first objective, age-adjusted survival model analyses of the UK Biobank, a prospective cohort study containing biomedical and socioeconomic data pertaining to 0.5 million UK residents, will be conducted. The latter objective will involve interviews with people living with Lewy Pathology dementias, unpaid carers, and healthcare professions. All studies were designed, and will be conducted, in collaboration with people living with Lewy Pathology dementias and audiology service providers. These studies may have important implications for dementia care. Specifically, if HL is a risk factor for Lewy Pathology dementias this may reinforce current movements towards considering residual HL in dementia diagnostic assessments and the involvement of hearing assessments in dementia care. Conversely, if HL is not a risk factor for Lewy Pathology dementias this may indicate that we cannot apply a blanket approach when considering the role of HL in dementia care. Moreover, the interviews may provide further insight as to the unmet needs of people living with Lewy Pathology dementias and HL, and the potential barriers to HL treatment in people with Lewy Pathology dementias.