Serum Uric Acid Relation for Hearing Threshold Shift.
OBJECTIVE
The effects of serum uric acid (UA) level on a variety of diseases were found from experimental and observational studies via oxidative stress and anti-oxidants. However, research on the association of UA and hearing thresholds is relatively sparse. We investigated this issue in the U.S. general population to evaluate the relationship of serum UA levels and pure tone threshold of hearing.


METHODS
Forty four thousand eighty four eligible participants aged 20 to 69 years who have serum UA data and received Audiometry Examination Component were enrolled from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004. Hearing thresholds (dB) as a pure tone average at low frequencies (0.5, 1, 2 kHz) and at high frequencies (3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz) were computed. Multivariate linear regression models and tertile-based analysis with an extended-model approach for covariates adjustment were used to assess the correlation between serum UA level and hearing thresholds.


RESULTS
In the adjusted mode of tertile-based analysis, the regression coefficients elucidated as the change of log-transformed mean hearing thresholds upon comparing participants in the highest tertile of serum UA to those in the lowest tertile were -0.067 (P=0.023) in high frequency and -0.058 (P=0.054) in low frequency. After adjusting for multiple pertinent covariates, inverse association between tertiles of serum UA and hearing thresholds remained essentially unchanged. The negative trends between serum UA and hearing thresholds were statistically significant (Pfor trends <0.05) in tertile-based multiple linear regressions.


CONCLUSIONS
Individuals with elevated UA levels independently were found to be inversely associated with hearing thresholds for pure tone audiometry in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.|Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hui-Fang
HF
Yang
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.|Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tung-Wei
TW
Kao
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tao-Chun
TC
Peng
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yu-Shan
YS
Sun
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.|Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Fang-Yih
FY
Liaw
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chung-Ching
CC
Wang
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.|Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Ju-Ting
JT
Hsueh
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.|Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, and School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wei-Liang
WL
Chen
Antioxidants; Hearing; Neuroprotection; Uric Acid