Age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) is very common in older adults and has major impact on quality of life. The heritability of ARHI has been estimated to be around 50%. The present study aimed to estimate heritability and environmental contributions to liability of ARHI and the extent to which a polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from a recent genome-wide association study of questionnaire items regarding hearing loss using the UK Biobank is predictive of hearing loss in other samples. We examined (1) a sample from TwinsUK who have had hearing ability measured by pure-tone audiogram and the speech-to-noise ratio test as well as questionnaire measures that are comparable with the UK Biobank questionnaire items and (2) European and non-European samples from the UK Biobank which were not part of the original GWAS. Results indicated that the questionnaire items were over 50% heritable in TwinsUK and comparable with the objective hearing measures. In addition, we found very high genetic correlation (0.30–0.84) between the questionnaire responses and objective hearing measures in the TwinsUK sample. Finally, PRS computed from weighted UK Biobank GWAS results were predictive of both questionnaire and objective measures of hearing loss in the TwinsUK sample, as well as questionnaire-measured hearing loss in Europeans but not non-European subpopulations. These results demonstrate the utility of questionnaire-based methods in genetic association studies of hearing loss in adults and highlight the differences in genetic predisposition to ARHI by ethnic background.

年龄相关性听力障碍 (ARHI) 在老年人中非常常见，对生活质量有重大影响。ARHI的遗传率估计约为50%。本研究旨在估计遗传力和环境对 ARHI 责任的贡献，以及来自最近使用英国生物库对听力损失进行问卷调查的全基因组关联研究得出的多基因风险评分 (PRS) 在多大程度上可预测听力损失在其他样本中。我们检查了（1）来自 TwinsUK 的样本，他们通过纯音听力图和语音噪声比测试以及与英国生物银行问卷项目可比的问卷测量和（2）欧洲和非欧洲和非- 来自英国生物银行的欧洲样本，不属于原始 GWAS 的一部分。结果表明，问卷项目在 TwinsUK 中的可遗传率超过 50%，与客观听力测量值相当。此外，我们在 TwinsUK 样本中发现问卷回答和客观听力测量之间的遗传相关性非常高（0.30-0.84）。最后，根据加权 UK Biobank GWAS 结果计算的 PRS 可以预测 TwinsUK 样本中听力损失的问卷调查和客观测量，以及欧洲人但不是非欧洲亚群的问卷测量听力损失。这些结果证明了基于问卷的方法在成人听力损失遗传关联研究中的实用性，并突出了种族背景对 ARHI 遗传易感性的差异。此外，我们在 TwinsUK 样本中发现问卷回答和客观听力测量之间的遗传相关性非常高（0.30-0.84）。最后，根据加权 UK Biobank GWAS 结果计算的 PRS 可以预测 TwinsUK 样本中听力损失的问卷调查和客观测量，以及欧洲人但不是非欧洲亚群的问卷测量听力损失。这些结果证明了基于问卷的方法在成人听力损失遗传关联研究中的实用性，并突出了种族背景对 ARHI 遗传易感性的差异。此外，我们在 TwinsUK 样本中发现问卷回答和客观听力测量之间的遗传相关性非常高（0.30-0.84）。最后，根据加权 UK Biobank GWAS 结果计算的 PRS 可以预测 TwinsUK 样本中听力损失的问卷调查和客观测量，以及欧洲人但不是非欧洲亚群的问卷测量听力损失。这些结果证明了基于问卷的方法在成人听力损失遗传关联研究中的实用性，并突出了种族背景对 ARHI 遗传易感性的差异。从加权 UK Biobank GWAS 结果计算的 PRS 可预测 TwinsUK 样本中听力损失的问卷调查和客观测量，以及欧洲人但非欧洲亚群的问卷测量听力损失。这些结果证明了基于问卷的方法在成人听力损失遗传关联研究中的实用性，并突出了种族背景对 ARHI 遗传易感性的差异。从加权 UK Biobank GWAS 结果计算的 PRS 可预测 TwinsUK 样本中听力损失的问卷调查和客观测量，以及欧洲人但非欧洲亚群的问卷测量听力损失。这些结果证明了基于问卷的方法在成人听力损失遗传关联研究中的实用性，并突出了种族背景对 ARHI 遗传易感性的差异。