Clin Exp Otorhinolaryngol.  2016 Jun;9(2):123-130. 10.21053/ceo.2015.00955.

Is Body Mass Index Associated With the Development of Age-Related Hearing Impairment in Koreans? The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2012

• Jung DJ
• Jang JH
• Lee KY

• KMID: 2165054
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.21053/ceo.2015.00955

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether body mass index (BMI) is associated with age-related hearing loss (ARHL) in the Asian elderly population.
METHODS
Data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2012 were used for the analyses. The pure tones at 0.5 and 1 kHz of both ears of each subject were averaged to obtain the low-frequency, those at 2 and 3 kHz were averaged to obtain the mid-frequency, and those at 4 and 6 kHz were averaged to obtain the high-frequency. The average hearing threshold (AHT) was calculated as pure tone average at 4 frequencies in the better ear. ARHL was defined as the AHT >25 dB.
RESULTS
Univariate analyses revealed an increase in the BMI tertile in men was associated with a decreased low-frequency threshold, while an increase in the BMI tertile in women was associated with decreased mid- and high-frequency thresholds. Multivariate analyses adjusted for confounders show no significant differences in low-, mid-, or high-frequency. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of ARHL by BMI tertiles. Linear regression analyses show no association between BMI and low-, mid-, and high-frequency or AHTs. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values for AHT was 0.515 in men and 0.522 in women. The logistic regression analyses showed no association between BMI and ARHL in either sex.
CONCLUSION
BMI is not advantageous for the prediction of ARHL. In future epidemiological studies, BMI as a covariate of obesity may be replaced by other active metabolic parameters that have better predictive ability of ARHL than BMI.

Keyword

Hearing; Body Mass Index; Metabolic Diseases

MeSH Terms

Aged
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Body Mass Index*
Ear
Epidemiologic Studies
Female
Hearing Loss*
Hearing*
Humans
Linear Models
Logistic Models
Male
Metabolic Diseases
Multivariate Analysis
Nutrition Surveys*
Obesity
Prevalence
ROC Curve

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. Flow chart of the study participants. BMI, body mass index.

• 

  Fig. 2. Hearing thresholds according to body mass index tertile. Low-Freq trend, P=0.021 in men and P=0.092 in women; Mid-Freq trend, P=0.467 in men and P=0.006 in women; High-Freq trend, P=0.412 in men and P=0.002 in women. Freq, frequency. *P<0.05 compared to participants in the low tertile.

• 

  Fig. 3. Body mass index according to age. *P<0.05 versus body mass index in the 70–79 or ≥80 years old participants. †P<0.05 versus body mass index in the 65–69 or 70–79 years old participants.

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