Samira F. Mirhadi

Azerbaijan Medical University,
Azerbaijan

Abstract Title:

Auditory Laterality in Age-Related Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Biography:

Samira F. Mirhadi, is an Assistant at the Department of Public Health and Health Organization, Azerbaijan Medical University, Baku, Azerbaijan, and a PhD candidate in Public Health. Her research focuses on healthy ageing, gerontology, public health, quality of life, and sensorineural hearing loss in older adults. She has participated in clinical and epidemiological studies on ageing and is actively involved in research on hearing loss, multimorbidity, and preventive healthcare. Her current work explores novel epidemiological aspects of age-related sensorineural hearing loss, including auditory laterality and its potential determinants.

Research Interests:

Whether age-related sensorineural hearing loss exhibits consistent laterality and whether this laterality is associated with handedness remain poorly understood. Although the epidemiology and risk factors of presbycusis have been widely investigated, the laterality of hearing loss has received relatively little attention. This study examined patterns of auditory laterality in age-related SNHL and explored their association with handedness. A cross-sectional study was conducted using medical records from a gerontology center and three outpatient clinics in Baku, Azerbaijan. Among 2,116 reviewed medical records, 649 adults aged 65–89 years with audiometrically confirmed SNHL were included. A control group consisted of 338 older adults without SNHL. Patients with complete deafness were excluded. Hearing-loss severity was classified according to the 2019 World Health Organization criteria. Most participants (81.1%) developed hearing loss after 65 years of age. Right-sided SNHL was the most frequent presentation (55.9%), followed by bilateral (29.7%) and left-sided involvement (14.3%) (p<0.001). The proportion of severe hearing loss increased progressively with advancing age, from 3.6% in participants aged 65–69 years to 33.3% in those aged 85–89 years (p<0.001). A pronounced association between hearing-loss laterality and handedness was observed: 97.8% of participants with right-sided SNHL were right-handed, whereas 91.4% of those with left-sided SNHL were left-handed. In addition, 46.5% of participants reported insufficient awareness of hearing-loss prevention. These findings identify a distinct pattern of auditory laterality in age-related SNHL and suggest a possible relationship between hearing-loss laterality and functional laterality. Confirmation of these findings in larger and more diverse populations may improve understanding of presbycusis and support the development of more targeted preventive strategies for older adults.