title: Disability of Hearing Impairment Is Positively Associated With Urine Albumin/Creatinine Ratio in Korean Adults: The 2011-2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine whether chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with hearing thresholds in the nationwide, large-scaled Korean population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study analyzed the data of 9,798 subjects of 19 years and older (4,387 males and 5,411 females). Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) was measured from first-voided spot urine samples. The air-conduction hearing threshold was measured at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 kHz and pure tone audiogram (PTA) average was calculated as the four-frequency average of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Urine ACR was significantly correlated with the PTA average of better ear in both genders, especially at 3 and 6 kHz in males and at 1, 3, 4, and 6 kHz in females. After adjusting, urine ACR also increased the risk of hearing loss in female, especially if urine ACR was 30 mg/g and more (odds ratio, 1.636-2.229. This study showed that the degree of hearing loss was significantly different according to categories of urine ACR in both genders. Hearing loss without disability was found less but that with bilateral hearing disability was found more as urine ACR increased. In generally, prevalence of hearing loss with disability was higher in males than females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that urine ACR was significantly correlated with the PTA average of better ear in Korean adults of both genders. This study suggests that clinicians should carefully monitor the hearing level for subjects with elevated urine ACR, even though high urine ACR within the normal range.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Hee
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Hiun Suk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Kyu
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Seo
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Seong Cheol
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Yeon
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Im
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Yen
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Dong
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Bok
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo-Suk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Study Cluster of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Mihee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyungdo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Han
keywords: Adult; Albuminuria; Epidemiologic Studies; Hearing Loss; Korea