Skin Pigmentation and Risk of Hearing Loss in Women

Black individuals have a lower risk of hearing loss than do whites, possibly because of differences in cochlear melanocytes. Previous studies have suggested that darker-skinned individuals tend to have more inner ear melanin, and cochlear melanocytes are important in generating the endocochlear potential. We investigated the relationship between self-reported hearing loss and skin pigmentation by using hair color, skin tanning ability, and skin reaction to prolonged sun exposure as surrogate measures of pigmentation among 49,323 white women in the Nurses' Health Study. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to adjust for potential confounders. During 1,190,170 person-years of follow-up (1982-2012), there was no association between risk of hearing loss and hair color ( for black hair vs. red or blonde hair, multivariable-adjusted relative risk (RR) = 0.99, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.90, 1.09), skin tanning ability (for dark tan vs. no tan, multivariable-adjusted RR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.92, 1.05), skin reaction to prolonged sun exposure (for painful burn with blisters vs. practically no reaction, multivariable-adjusted RR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.08), or Fitzpatrick skin phototype (for type IV vs. type I, multivariable-adjusted RR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.92, 1.05). In our cohort of white women, surrogates for skin pigmentation were not associated with risk of hearing loss.