Obesity is associated with sensorineural hearing loss in adolescents

Objectives/Hypothesis Childhood obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 95%, is a significant health problem associated with a variety of disorders, and in adults it has been found to be a risk factor for hearing loss. We investigated the hypothesis that obese children are at increased risk of s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Laryngoscope 2013-12, Vol.123 (12), p.3178-3184
Main Authors: Lalwani, Anil K., Katz, Karin, Liu, Ying-Hua, Kim, Sarah, Weitzman, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Audiometry, Pure-Tone
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Hearing loss
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - epidemiology
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - etiology
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - physiopathology
Humans
Hypotheses
Incidence
Male
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
Nutrition Surveys - methods
Obesity
Obesity - complications
Obesity - epidemiology
Retrospective Studies
sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL)
United States - epidemiology
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objectives/Hypothesis Childhood obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 95%, is a significant health problem associated with a variety of disorders, and in adults it has been found to be a risk factor for hearing loss. We investigated the hypothesis that obese children are at increased risk of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Study Design A complex, multistage, stratified geographic area design for collecting representative data from noninstitutionalized U.S. population. Methods Relevant cross‐sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005 to 2006, for 1,488 participants 12 to 19 years of age was examined. Subjects were classified as obese if their BMI ≥ 95th percentile. SNHL was defined as average pure‐tone level greater than 15 dB for 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz (low frequency) and 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz (high frequency). Results Compared to normal weight participants (BMI 5%–85%), obesity in adolescents was associated with elevated pure tone hearing thresholds and greater prevalence of unilateral low‐frequency SNHL (15.2 vs. 8.3%, P = 0.01). In multivariate analyses, obesity was associated with a 1.85 fold increase in the odds of unilateral low‐frequency SNHL (95% CI: 1.10–3.13) after controlling for multiple hearing‐related covariates. Conclusions We demonstrate for the first time that obesity in childhood is associated with higher hearing thresholds across all frequencies and an almost 2‐fold increase in the odds of unilateral low‐frequency hearing loss. These results add to the growing literature on obesity‐related health disturbances and also add to the urgency in instituting public health measures to reduce it. Level of Evidence 2b. Laryngoscope, 123:3178–3184, 2013
ISSN:0023-852X
1531-4995
DOI:10.1002/lary.24244