Cigarette smoking and hearing loss: the epidemiology of hearing loss study.
BACKGROUND
Clinical studies have suggested that cigarette smoking may be associated with hearing loss, a common condition affecting older adults.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between smoking and hearing loss.


METHODS
Population-based, cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Community of Beaver Dam, Wis.


METHODS
Adults aged 48 to 92 years. Of 4541 eligible subjects, 3753 (83%) participated in the hearing study.


METHODS
The examination included otoscopy, screening tympanometry, and pure-tone air-conduction and bone-conduction audiometry. Smoking history was ascertained by self-report. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) greater than 25-dB hearing level in the worse ear.


RESULTS
After adjusting for other factors, current smokers were 1.69 times as likely to have a hearing loss as nonsmokers (95% confidence interval, 1.31-2.17). This relationship remained for those without a history of occupational noise exposure and in analyses excluding those with non-age-related hearing loss. There was weak evidence of a dose-response effect. Nonsmoking participants who lived with a smoker were more likely to have a hearing loss than those who were not exposed to a household member who smoked (odds ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-3.74).


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that environmental exposures may play a role in age-related hearing loss. If longitudinal studies confirm these findings, modification of smoking habits may prevent or delay age-related declines in hearing sensitivity.
Cruickshanks
K J
KJ
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53705-2397, USA. cruickshanks@epi.ophth.wisc.edu
Klein
R
R
Klein
B E
BE
Wiley
T L
TL
Nondahl
D M
DM
Tweed
T S
TS
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009623:Noise, Occupational; D011304:Presbycusis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution