Hearing in older adults with exfoliation syndrome/exfoliation glaucoma or primary open‐angle glaucoma

Abstract

Purpose To determine if adults, aged 66–96 years, with exfoliation syndrome (XFS)/exfoliation glaucoma (XFG), or primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) have poorer hearing than controls of similar age. Methods Case (XFS/XFG and POAG) and control status were diagnosed in the Reykjavik Glaucoma Studies (RGS) using slit-lamp examination, visual field testing, and optic disc photographs; the RGS data were merged with the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility–Reykjavik Study (AGES-R) that collected hearing data using air-conduction, pure-tone thresholds obtained at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 kHz categorized by better ear (BE) and worse ear (WE), based on pure-tone averages (PTAs) calculated separately for low and middle frequencies (PTA512 – mean of thresholds at 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz) and high frequencies (PTA3468 – mean of thresholds at 3, 4, 6 and 8 kHz). Multivariable linear regression was used to test for differences in PTAs between cases and controls. Results The mean age for 158 XFS/XFG cases (30.4% male) was 77.4 years, 95 POAG cases (35.8% male) was 77.9 years, and 123 controls (46.3% male) was 76.8 years. Using multivariable linear regression analysis there were no consistent, statistically significant differences in PTAs between the two case groups and controls in either the low or high frequency range, even when stratified by age group. Conclusion Among the older individuals examined in this study, hearing loss is highly prevalent and strongly associated with male gender and increasing age. Since we did not find consistent statistically significant difference in hearing between cases and controls, the diagnosis of XFS/XFG or POAG does not as such routinely call for audiological evaluation.

Relationships between Hearing Loss and the Prevalences of Cataract, Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Korea

“…However, the relationship between glaucoma and hearing loss is controversial. A recent study have reported that patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome/pseudoexfoliation glaucoma or patients with POAG did not show a significant difference in hearing compared to controls after considering possible confounders [22]. In the present study, visual field impairment confirmed by FDT was more frequent in hearing-impaired group compared to normal hearing group.…”

Genetic correlations between intraocular pressure, blood pressure and primary open-angle glaucoma: a multi-cohort analysis

“…Since a prior report found no relation between hearing loss and POAG 29 we included the cochlea as a reference tissue (1797 genes). Using this information we constructed tissue-specific annotation where each SNP within 50kb of the start and end site of the selected genes defined a category.…”

Hearing Loss in Exfoliation Syndrome: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

“…A total of 21 publications were included in the systematic review 4,18,31,39–56 . All studies diagnosed XFS by ophthalmologic examination (i.e., slit‐lamp biomicroscopy and gonioscopy).…”

“…Despite the large amount of literature examining XFS, the severity and characteristics of XFS HL and vestibular dysfunction have not been clearly defined. Although several studies found a greater level of HL in patients with XFS compared to controls, the largest case–control study found no discernable evidence for increased sensorineural HL in XFG compared to controls 31 . Therefore, meta‐analysis was warranted to investigate differences between studies.…”