Voice Disorders as Early Biomarkers of Cognitive Decline.

Cohort studyJournal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation· Aug 2026

Voice Disorders as Early Biomarkers of Cognitive Decline.

Anthony G Russo, Mary J Hawkshaw, Robert T Sataloff

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Laryngology & VoiceCohort studyPrognosisQ2IF 2.1

Voice disorders are associated with higher risk of incident cognitive decline than controls

Voice Disorders as Early Biomarkers of Cognitive Decline.

Anthony G Russo … Robert T Sataloff

Journal of voice · Aug 2026 · Q2 in Otorhinolaryngology

Background

Dementia affects greater than 57 million people worldwide.

Methods

The 2020 Lancet Commission identified hearing loss as the largest modifiable risk factor for dementia globally, and a randomized controlled trial found that hearing intervention reduced 3-year cognitive change in older adults who were at increased risk for cognitive decline.

Results

voice disorders raise risk of later cognitive decline versus controls

HR by subgroup · 95% CI

More results

Hearing loss alone was associated with a slightly lower risk of cognitive decline (HR=1.267, 95% CI 1.203-1.334, P<0.0001).

More results

Voice disorders without concurrent hearing loss were associated with an elevated risk of incident cognitive decline compared to hearing loss alone (HR=1.261, 95% CI 1.121-1.419, P=0.0001), while voice disorders with hearing loss were associated with the highest risk among all cohorts (HR=2.038 vs controls; HR=1.545 vs hearing loss).

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

The results from our study indicate that voice disorders are associated with an elevated risk of incident cognitive decline and may represent a stronger early biomarker than hearing loss alone.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

These findings highlight otolaryngology and family medicine/internal medicine encounters as potential entry points for cognitive assessment, and early voice treatment needs to be investigated for possible beneficial cognitive effect.

Voice Disorders as Early Biomarkers of Cognitive Decline.

Voice Disorders as Early Biomarkers of Cognitive Decline.

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