Reported Hearing Impairment in Essential Tremor: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

In a population-based sample, we determined whether a larger proportion of essential tremor (ET) cases reported hearing impairment compared with controls. Ninety-six (38.7%) of 248 ET cases versus 1,371 (29.4%) of 4,669 controls (p = 0.002) reported hearing impairment. In a logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, educational level, depressive symptoms, and dementia, participants who reported hearing impairment were 30% more likely to suffer from ET than were controls (odds ratio 1.3; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.7; p = 0.04). ET seemed to be associated with reported hearing impairment. The basis for this finding, which has been noted in several studies, deserves further exploration.