Abstract

Background & aimsSensorineural hearing loss (HL) is one of the most common public health problems, and its prevalence increases with increasing life expectancy. An association between HL and metabolic syndrome (MetS) is suspected. Although previous epidemiological studies have investigated the association between the two variables, there have been conflicting conclusions. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the association between the presence of MetS—and individual components of MetS—and HL, using a longitudinal design and a large-scale population.MethodsA total of 17,513,555 individuals who underwent national health screening between January 2009 and December 2010 were identified. Subject data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service were reviewed. A total of 11,457,931 subjects were ultimately included in the analysis. Baseline comorbidities were defined according to the ICD-10 code from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data. If the participants had an ICD-10 code for HL during the follow-up, they were defined as having incident HL. Criteria for MetS adhered to the revised National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III.ResultsThere were 7,574,432 subjects without MetS and 3,883,499 with MetS. The incidence of HL in subjects without MetS and with MetS was 1.3% and 1.8% at 1 year, 4.1% and 5.2% at 3 years, and 6.8% and 8.6% at 5 years, respectively (P < 0.001). However, multivariate analyses revealed a negative association. Analyses according to the components of MetS demonstrated a positive association for those associated with dyslipidemia; however, the others exhibited an inverse association with HL. We also performed analyses using 4 groups according to the presence of MetS and the components of dyslipidemia. Univariate analysis revealed a positive association between the presence of MetS and HL; however, multivariate analysis revealed a positive association between the presence of dyslipidemia components and HL, regardless of the presence of MetS.ConclusionAmong the components of MetS, the association between low HDL or high TG levels and HL was most apparent. It is useful to evaluate each MetS component in isolation, such as the presence of low HDL or high TG levels, rather than the presence of MetS as a cluster of components.

Highlights

  • Sensorineural hearing loss (HL) is one of the most common public health problems, and its prevalence increases with increasing life expectancy

  • Analyses according to the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) demonstrated a positive association for those associated with dyslipidemia; the others exhibited an inverse association with HL

  • Univariate analysis revealed a positive association between the presence of MetS and HL; multivariate analysis revealed a positive association between the presence of dyslipidemia components and HL, regardless of the presence of MetS

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Summary

Introduction

Sensorineural hearing loss (HL) is one of the most common public health problems, and its prevalence increases with increasing life expectancy. Recent studies have demonstrated the association of HL with various cardiovascular and/or metabolic disorders that would cause injury to the nerves or vessels within the cochlea [4]. The World Health Organization has reported increasing trends in aging populations and the prevalence of various cardiovascular and/or metabolic diseases, which are projected to be associated with further increases in the prevalence of HL [3]. An association between HL and metabolic syndrome (MetS) is suspected. We aimed to evaluate the association between the presence of MetS—and individual components of MetS—and HL, using a longitudinal design and a large-scale population

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