title: Comparison of Various Anthropometric Indices as Risk Factors for Hearing Impairment in Asian Women.
abstract: The objective of the present study was to examine the associations between various anthropometric measures and metabolic syndrome and hearing impairment in Asian women.
  
  
  
  We identified 11,755 women who underwent voluntary routine health checkups at Yeungnam University Hospital between June 2008 and April 2014. Among these patients, 2,485 participants were <40 years old, and 1,072 participants lacked information regarding their laboratory findings or hearing and were therefore excluded. In total 8,198 participants were recruited into our study.
  
  
  
  The AUROC value for metabolic syndrome was 0.790 for the waist to hip ratio (WHR). The cutoff value was 0.939. The sensitivity and specificity for predicting metabolic syndrome were 72.7% and 71.7%, respectively. The AUROC value for hearing loss was 0.758 for WHR. The cutoff value was 0.932. The sensitivity and specificity for predicting hearing loss were 65.8% and 73.4%, respectively. The WHR had the highest AUC and was the best predictor of metabolic syndrome and hearing loss. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses showed that WHR levels were positively associated with four hearing thresholds including averaged hearing threshold and low, middle, and high frequency thresholds. In addition, multivariate logistic analysis revealed that those with a high WHR had a 1.347-fold increased risk of hearing loss compared with the participants with a low WHR.
  
  
  
  Our results demonstrated that WHR may be a surrogate marker for predicting the risk of hearing loss resulting from metabolic syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yeungnam University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seok Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Da Jung
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyu Yup
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yeungnam University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Woo
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yeungnam University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Do
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D019540:Area Under Curve; D044466:Asian People; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012307:Risk Factors; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio; D014930:Women