title: Relationship between obesity and hearing loss.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  Underweight and severe obesity were associated with an increased prevalence of hearing loss in a Korean population.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The relationship between weight and hearing loss is unclear. This study, therefore, analyzed the relationship between hearing loss and body mass index (BMI) in a Korean population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The prevalence and severity of hearing loss were assessed in 61 052 subjects who underwent health screening examinations, including hearing tests. Subjects were divided into five groups according to BMI (underweight, normal, overweight, obese, and severely obese). The relationships between the prevalence and severity of hearing loss and BMI were analyzed, after adjusting for the effects of age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rates of mild or greater hearing loss in the underweight, normal, overweight, obese, and severely obese groups were 24.9%, 20.4%, 21.8%, 21.2%, and 24.1%, respectively. Mild severity of hearing loss was the most common in all five groups, followed by moderate, moderately severe, and severe hearing loss, in that order. Multivariate analysis, showed that the odds ratios of hearing loss in the severely obese, and underweight groups, compared with the normal group, were 1.312 and 1.282, respectively.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Graduate School, Kyung Hee University , Seoul , Korea ;
authors.forename: Sang Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: b Department of Surgery , St. Vincent's Hospital, the Catholic University of Korea, School of Medicine , Suwon , Korea ;
authors.forename: Yong Sung
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Won
authors.affiliation: c Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine , Changwon , Korea ;
authors.forename: Myung Gu
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: c Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine , Changwon , Korea ;
authors.forename: Young Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.affiliation: d Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine , Kyung Hee University , Seoul , Korea.
authors.forename: In-Hwan
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Graduate School, Kyung Hee University , Seoul , Korea ;
authors.forename: Seung Geun
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Yeo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Hearing loss; age; obesity; underweight