Tinnitus and risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease: a retrospective nationwide population-based cohort study

Abstract

Tinnitus has been implied as a “soft” sign of neurodegenerative disease, which is characterized by progressive loss of neuronal function, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study aimed to determine whether the risk of developing AD/PD increases after having tinnitus. We conducted a retrospective matched cohort study with 12,657 tinnitus patients and 25,314 controls from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan with almost 10 years follow-up. Tinnitus-related risk on developing AD/PD followingly was determined by the Cox regression to identify potential confounding factors. Through the 10-year follow-up period, 398 individuals with tinnitus (3.1%) and 501 control individuals (2.0%) developed AD (P < 0.001), and 211 tinnitus patients (1.7%) and 249 control patients (1.0%) developed PD (P < 0.001). Compared with controls, patients with tinnitus were 1.54 times more likely to develop AD (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.34–1.78, P < 0.001) and 1.56 times more likely to develop PD (95% CI 1.29–1.89, P < 0.001), after adjusting confounding factors. Our results indicate an association between tinnitus and higher risk of developing AD and PD. Additional physical comorbidities may also increase the risk of developing AD and PD.