Dietary magnesium and calcium intake is associated with lower risk of hearing loss in older adults: A cross-sectional study of NHANES.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional survey study
PubMed 36998904 · doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1101764
What was done
This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 1,858 participants aged ≥70 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2005–2006, 2009–2010, and 2017–2018). Outcomes evaluated were low-frequency hearing loss (pure-tone averages at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hz >25 dB) and speech-frequency hearing loss (pure-tone averages at 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz >25 dB). Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between dietary magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), combined intake terms, and hearing loss.
What was found
Low-frequency hearing loss was present in 55.95% (n = 1,052) and speech-frequency hearing loss in 72.62% (n = 1,349) of participants. After adjusting for confounders, higher dietary Ca (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.74–0.99), Mg (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68–0.95), and the Ca * Mg interaction (OR = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.02–0.87) were associated with lower odds of low-frequency hearing loss. Similarly, dietary Ca (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.77–0.95), Mg (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.68–0.90), and Ca * Mg (OR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.05–0.78) were associated with lower odds of speech-frequency hearing loss. Combined intake of Ca ≥1,044 mg and Mg ≥330 mg was related to lower odds of low-frequency hearing loss (OR = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.00–0.27) and speech-frequency hearing loss (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.21–0.89).
Why it matters
These findings suggest that adequate dietary intake of magnesium and calcium, individually and jointly, is inversely associated with hearing loss in older adults.
Limits
The cross-sectional design precludes establishing causality or temporal order. Dietary mineral intake was based on self-reported recall, introducing potential reporting and recall bias. Residual confounding from unmeasured factors such as occupational noise history or ototoxic medication use cannot be ruled out.