Type 2 diabetes and the risk of incident hearing loss

Abstract

Aims/hypothesis Type 2 diabetes mellitus has been implicated as a risk factor for hearing loss, with possible mechanisms including microvascular disease, acoustic neuropathy or oxidative stress. A few small studies have examined the longitudinal association between type 2 diabetes and hearing loss, but larger studies are needed. Our objective was to examine whether type 2 diabetes (including diabetes duration) is associated with incident hearing loss in two prospective cohorts: Nurses’ Health Studies (NHS) I and II. Methods We conducted a longitudinal study of 139,909 women to examine the relationship between type 2 diabetes and the risk of self-reported incident hearing loss. A physician-diagnosis of diabetes was ascertained from biennial questionnaires. The primary outcome was hearing loss reported as moderate or worse in severity (categorised as a ‘moderate or severe’ hearing problem, or ‘moderate hearing trouble or deaf’) on questionnaires administered in 2012 in NHS I and 2009 or 2013 in NHS II. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to adjust for potential confounders. Results During >2.4 million person-years of follow-up, 664 cases of moderate or worse hearing loss were reported among those with type 2 diabetes and 10,022 cases among those without type 2 diabetes. Compared with women who did not have type 2 diabetes, those with type 2 diabetes were at higher risk for incident moderate or worse hearing loss (pooled multivariable-adjusted HR 1.16 [95% CI 1.07, 1.27]). Participants who had type 2 diabetes for ≥8 years had a higher risk of moderate or worse hearing loss compared with those without type 2 diabetes (pooled multivariable-adjusted HR 1.24 [95% CI 1.10, 1.40]). Conclusions/interpretation In this large longitudinal study, type 2 diabetes was associated with a modestly higher risk of moderate or worse hearing loss. Furthermore, longer duration diabetes was associated with a higher risk of moderate or worse hearing loss.

The association between kidney function decline and hearing loss: a cross-sectional study

“…Comparing the prevalence of hearing loss observed in this study with previous studies is difficult because different studies included participants belonging to different age groups and defined and measured hearing loss using different instruments. Pure-tone audiometry and self-reporting are two common ways to assess hearing status in hearing-related studies [21,22,[30][31][32][33][34][35]. Pure tone audiometry detects the hearing threshold at a specific frequency [20].…”

Chronic kidney disease and the risk of incident hearing loss

“…Whereas detailed audiograms and tympanograms were performed, bone conduction thresholds were only assessed at two frequencies at baseline and three frequencies at follow‐up examinations. We adjusted for diabetes mellitus, which has been associated with hearing loss; however, we did not adjust for degree of diabetes control with hemoglobin A1c. Most of the participants were non‐Hispanic whites, and we thus cannot extrapolate the results to other racial groups.…”

The association between kidney function decline and hearing loss: a cross-sectional study

“…It is a little bit difficult to compare the prevalence of hearing loss in this study with previous studies due to the fact that the included participants in different studies were in different age groups, and the hearing loss was defined and measured using different instruments in different studies. The pure-tone audiometry and self-reporting are two common ways to assess hearing status in hearing related studies [23,24,[29][30][31][32][33][34]. Pure tone audiometry is to find the hearing threshold at a specific frequency [22].…”