Low-Dose Aspirin and Central Presbycusis: A Substudy of the ASPREE Randomized Clinical Trial

Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) affects more than 50% of individuals 70 years or older and is associated with communication difficulty, social isolation, and cognitive decline. Microvascular and inflammatory conditions are known to affect peripheral and central auditory processes; as such, aspirin may have an important role in slowing age-related dysfunction.

To investigate whether low-dose aspirin affects the rate of central auditory pathway degeneration in older adults.

This study was embedded within the parent Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) Project, which was a randomized, placebo-controlled trial that explored aspirin effects on healthy aging. Enrollment occurred after randomization. It was conducted at Monash Biomedical Imaging Center (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) from 2014 to 2019. Eligible adults aged 70 years or older at baseline received either 100 mg daily of enteric-coated aspirin or a matching placebo. Individuals participated in the drug trial for at least 2.5 years and then underwent 1-year and 2-year posttrial reviews. Auditory assessment was carried out at baseline and 18, 36, 48, and 60 months. Data were analyzed from 2025 to 2026.

Type and severity of auditory dysfunction were evaluated via electrophysiologic (cortical auditory evoked potentials) and perceptual (speech-in-noise) assessment. Group outcomes were compared using mixed-linear regression models that adjusted for participants' age and hearing level.

Of 124 individuals (mean [SD] age, 72.8 [3.5] years; 60 female individuals [48.4%]), 61 (49.2%) received aspirin and 63 (50.8%) received placebo. Cortical response latencies increased over the course of study (N1: 1.3 milliseconds per year; P2: 0.9 milliseconds per year), but there was no aspirin effect. Similarly, N1/P2 amplitudes decreased over time (0.2 uV per year). In this case, there was a main effect for aspirin, but there was no aspirin/time point interaction, suggesting that the result was due to a group difference at baseline that was maintained throughout the study. Binaural speech perception deteriorated for listening conditions for which target and noise sources were spatially separated, with reception thresholds decreasing by 0.1 dB per year. When speech and noise were colocated, there was no change. There was no aspirin effect for any condition.

This substudy of randomized clinical trial showed that there was no clinically important effect of low-dose aspirin on central presbycusis. However, more investigation (of aspirin and other treatment options) is warranted, as the longitudinal findings revealed substantial auditory neural and functional hearing deterioration over a relatively short (5-year) period in healthy older adults.

anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12614000496617.