title: Hearing loss among HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative men and women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Age-related hearing loss affects quality of life. Data on hearing loss among aging human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive (HIV+) adults are limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate pure-tone hearing thresholds among HIV+ and HIV-seronegative (HIV-) adults and to determine whether HIV disease variables and antiretroviral therapy are associated with pure-tone threshold levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 262 men (117 HIV+) from the Baltimore, Maryland/Washington, DC, site of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study and 134 women (105 HIV+) from the Washington, DC, site of the Women's Interagency HIV Study participated. Pure-tone air conduction thresholds were collected in a sound-treated room for each ear at frequencies from 250 through 8000 Hz. Linear mixed regression models tested the effect of HIV on hearing after adjustment for age, sex, race, and noise exposure history.
  
  
  METHODS
  Low-frequency pure-tone average (LPTA) at 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz and high-frequency PTA (HPTA) at 3000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz. Differential HIV effects for LPTA and HPTA and better/worse ear were also examined. CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cell counts, log10 plasma HIV RNA concentrations, receipt of AIDS diagnosis, and cumulative duration of antiretroviral therapy were included in the models for HIV+ participants only.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HPTA and LPTA were significantly higher (18%: estimated ratio, 1.18 [95% CI, 1.02-1.36]; P = .02; and 12%: estimated ratio, 1.12 [95% CI, 1.00-1.26]; P = .05, respectively) for HIV+ participants compared with HIV- participants for the better ear. The direction of the effect was consistent across both the better and worse ears. There were no significant associations between HIV disease variables or treatment variables and LPTA or HPTA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HIV+ adults had significantly poorer lower-frequency and higher-frequency hearing than HIV- adults. High-frequency hearing loss is consistent with an accelerated aging (presbycusis); low-frequency hearing loss in middle age is unexpected. Because some vowels and consonants have predominantly low-frequency acoustic energy, poor low-frequency hearing may impair communication in HIV+ individuals.
authors.affiliation: School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, California.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Torre
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Statistics Program, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Howard J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Gayle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Springer
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Mary A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Joseph B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Margolick
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Plankey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D005260:Female; D018023:HIV Seronegativity; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006316:Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology