A new publication by a team of authors from Duke and UNC, including DUPRI Scholar Jessie West, finds that faster epigenetic aging—especially GrimAge & DunedinPACE clocks—is tied to poorer hearing in older adults, linking biological age markers to age‑related hearing loss.

Objectives: 

Hearing loss is a prevalent condition in older adults. Epigenetic age acceleration has emerged as a potential biomarker for age-related diseases; however, there is limited evidence of the link between epigenetic age acceleration and hearing loss in older adults or how it varies by sex. This study is to investigate (1) the association between epigenetic age acceleration and hearing function and (2) sex differences in this association.

Design: 

Data from the Health and Retirement Study, a large, nationally representative sample of adults aged 50 yrs and older, were analyzed. The study included 1755 adults from the 2016 sample with epigenetic data. Epigenetic age acceleration included five epigenetic clocks: Horvath’s age acceleration (HorvathAA), Hannum’s age acceleration (HannumAA), phenotypic age acceleration (PhenoAA), GrimAge acceleration (GrimAA), and methylation-based pace of aging estimate (DunedinPoAm). Multivariable regression models assessed the association between epigenetic age acceleration and mean hearing test score (linear) and hearing loss (logistic).

Results: 

The mean chronological age of 68.4 (SD = 9.4) was higher than the mean epigenetic age ranging from 53.9 (SD = 8.9) for HannumAge to 67.1 (SD = 8.6) for GrimAge. Overall, 58.4% of participants had hearing loss, with a mean hearing test score of 4.6 (1.4). Phenotypic age acceleration, GrimAA, and methylation-based pace of aging estimate were significantly associated with lower hearing test scores (β [95% confidence interval {CI}] = −0.081 [−0.15 to −0.01]; −0.150 [−0.22 to −0.08]; −0.089 [−0.16 to −0.02], respectively). These associations remained significant in females, while only GrimAA was still significant in males. GrimAA was associated with higher odds of hearing loss (odds ratio [95% CI] =1.23 [1.05 to 1.44]), and remained significant in females (1.47 [1.18 to 1.83]), but not in males.

Conclusions: 

This study highlights the potential of epigenetic age acceleration as a biomarker for hearing loss in older adults and underscores the importance of sex differences in aging research. Findings suggest further research is needed to explore epigenetic mechanisms as potential targets for interventions to mitigate hearing loss in older adults, particularly among females.

Citation

West JS, Q Chen, SL Smith, J Bao, F Zou, YJ Li, & R Jiang. “Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Hearing Function in U.S. Older Adults.” 2026. Ear and Hearing, online ahead of print. http://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001797