Sleep Apnea linked with Hearing Loss? Intermittent low oxygen...makes sense.

Sleep Apnea linked with Hearing Loss? Intermittent low oxygen...makes sense.  JR

Sleep Apnea Is Associated with Hearing Impairment: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos

http://dx.doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5804

Amit Chopra, MBBS1; Molly Jung, MPH2; Robert C. Kaplan, PhD2; David W. Appel, MD3; Elizabeth A. Dinces, MD3; Sumitrajit Dhar, PhD4; Phyllis C. Zee, MD, PhD4; Franklyn Gonzalez, MS5; David J. Lee, PhD6; Alberto R. Ramos, MD, MPSH6; Howard J. Hoffman, MA7; Susan Redline, MD, MPH8; Karen J. Cruickshanks, PhD9; Neomi A. Shah, MD, MPH10

1Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY; 2Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; 3Montefiore Medical Center; Bronx, NY; 4Northwestern University, Evanston, IL; 5University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC; 6University of Miami, Miami, FL; 7National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD; 8Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; 9University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; 10Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

Study Objective

Sleep apnea (SA) may promote hearing impairment (HI) through ischemia and inflammation of the cochlea. Our objective was to assess an independent association between SA and HI in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) participants.

Methods

We used data from the HCHS/SOL, a multicenter population-based study of self- identifying Hispanic/Latinos 18- to 74-y-old adults from four US urban communities. We performed home SA testing and in-clinic audiometry testing in all participants. SA was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 15 events/h. HI was defined as a mean hearing threshold > 25 dB hearing level in either ear at the frequencies: 3,000 to 8,000 Hz for high-frequency HI (HF-HI) and 500 to 2,000 Hz for low-frequency HI (LF-HI). Combined-frequency HI (CF-HI) was defined as both conditions present, and Any-HI was considered as HI in either low or high frequencies.

Results

Of 13,967 participants, 9.9% had SA and 32.3% had Any-HI. Adjusted for risk factors for HI, those with SA had a 30% higher odds of Any-HI (95% confidence interval [CI] = 8% to 57%), 26% higher odds of HF-HI (CI = 3% to 55%), 127% higher odds of LF-HI (CI = 21% to 326%), and 29% higher odds of CF-HI (CI = 0% to 65%).

 A dose-response association was observed between AHI severity and Any-HI (versus no SA, OR for AHI ≥ 15 and < 30 = 1.22, CI = 0.96 to 1.54, and OR for AHI ≥ 30 = 1.46, CI = 1.11 to 1.91, p = 0.002).

Conclusion

SA is associated with HF-HI and LF-HI, independent of
 snoring and other confounders.

Citation

Chopra A, Jung M, Kaplan RC, Appel DW, Dinces EA, Dhar S, Zee PC, Gonzalez F, Lee DJ, Ramos AR, Hoffman HJ, Redline S, Cruickshanks KJ, Shah NA. Sleep apnea is associated with hearing impairment: the hispanic community health study/study of latinos. J Clin Sleep Med 2016;12(5):719–726.