title: Factors Associated With Age-related Hearing Impairment: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
abstract: Age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) is a complex degenerative disease in the elderly. As multiple factors interact during the development of ARHI, it is important to elucidate the major influencing factors to understand and prevent ARHI. We aimed to identify risk factors associated with the development of ARHI with a retrospective cohort from 2001 to 2010. The records of the adult subjects over 40 years of age who consecutively underwent a comprehensive health checkup including pure-tone audiometry at the Health Promotion Center were reviewed. During this period, 1560 subjects who underwent pure-tone audiometry more than twice, had no other otologic diseases, and were followed-up more than 2 years were included. A pure-tone average (PTA: 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz) was calculated. Development of ARHI was defined as a PTA at follow-up more than 10 dB greater than the baseline PTA. Times to the first development of ARHI were investigated. Overall, 12.7% of subjects developed ARHI within the first 4 years. High blood ionized calcium (hazard ratio [HR] 0.084), albumin (HR 0.239), systolic blood pressure (HR 0.577), thyroid hormone (T3) (HR 0.593), and alpha fetoprotein levels (HR 0.883) were associated with decreased hazard for the development of ARHI. In contrast, high blood high-density lipoprotein (HR 2.105), uric acid (HR 1.684), total protein (HR 1.423), and total bilirubin levels (HR 1.220) were potential risk factors for the development of ARHI. Development of ARHI is common among the aged population, and a variety of factors may interact during this process. The results of this study can be used for counseling of adults at high-risk of developing ARHI with regard to regular audiological check-up.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine (IJM, HB, SHH, W-HC, Y-SC); Biostatistics Team, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute (S-yW); and Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (G-YG).
authors.forename: Il Joon
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Hayoung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: Sook-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Geum-Youn
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Gwak
authors.forename: Sung Hwa
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Won-Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Yang-Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors