TY - JOUR
T1 - Obesity as a Possible Risk Factor for Pediatric Sensorineural Hearing Loss
AU - Bluher, Andrew
AU - Kawai, Kosuke
AU - Wang, Alicia
AU - Stiles, Derek
AU - Licameli, Greg
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society Inc, "The Triological Society" and American Laryngological Association (ALA)
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Objectives/Hypothesis: Childhood hearing loss impacts linguistic, academic, social, and psychologic development, and may have lasting implications for future workforce performance. Current evidence for obesity as a pediatric sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) risk factor is intriguing but equivocal. We hypothesized that obesity is associated with a higher risk of SNHL. We additionally examined whether underweight is associated with a higher risk of SNHL. Study Design: Retrospective database review. Methods: A single-institution audiologic database from 2015 to 2020 was queried for audiograms with type-A tympanograms from children aged 5 to 18 years old. Comorbidities known to be associated with hearing loss were excluded. We then examined both for sub-clinical (≥15 dB) high- or low-frequency hearing loss, and for clinical (≥21 dB) hearing loss, with the aim of examining the association between obesity and SNHL. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to adjust for age, gender, diabetes mellitus, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. Results: A total of 3,142 children were included. Obesity was not associated with risk of SNHL (adjusted OR 0.82; 95% CI: 0.60, 1.12). Underweight children had a higher risk of SNHL than normal weight children (adjusted OR 1.78; 95% CI: 1.08, 2.95). Autism was significantly associated with increased risk of sub-clinical SNHL only (adjusted OR 2.00; 95% CI 1.34, 2.98). Conclusions: No association was found between obesity and pediatric SNHL. Underweight children may represent a higher-risk population for SNHL. There appears to be an increasing risk of SNHL as children approach adolescence. Further study of systemic risk factors for SNHL is indicated. Level of Evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 131:1416–1419, 2021.
AB - Objectives/Hypothesis: Childhood hearing loss impacts linguistic, academic, social, and psychologic development, and may have lasting implications for future workforce performance. Current evidence for obesity as a pediatric sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) risk factor is intriguing but equivocal. We hypothesized that obesity is associated with a higher risk of SNHL. We additionally examined whether underweight is associated with a higher risk of SNHL. Study Design: Retrospective database review. Methods: A single-institution audiologic database from 2015 to 2020 was queried for audiograms with type-A tympanograms from children aged 5 to 18 years old. Comorbidities known to be associated with hearing loss were excluded. We then examined both for sub-clinical (≥15 dB) high- or low-frequency hearing loss, and for clinical (≥21 dB) hearing loss, with the aim of examining the association between obesity and SNHL. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to adjust for age, gender, diabetes mellitus, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. Results: A total of 3,142 children were included. Obesity was not associated with risk of SNHL (adjusted OR 0.82; 95% CI: 0.60, 1.12). Underweight children had a higher risk of SNHL than normal weight children (adjusted OR 1.78; 95% CI: 1.08, 2.95). Autism was significantly associated with increased risk of sub-clinical SNHL only (adjusted OR 2.00; 95% CI 1.34, 2.98). Conclusions: No association was found between obesity and pediatric SNHL. Underweight children may represent a higher-risk population for SNHL. There appears to be an increasing risk of SNHL as children approach adolescence. Further study of systemic risk factors for SNHL is indicated. Level of Evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 131:1416–1419, 2021.
KW - Pediatric sensorineural hearing loss
KW - body mass index
KW - hearing loss risk factors
KW - obesity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096981605&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/lary.29289
DO - 10.1002/lary.29289
M3 - Article
C2 - 33264432
AN - SCOPUS:85096981605
SN - 0023-852X
VL - 131
SP - 1416
EP - 1419
JO - Laryngoscope
JF - Laryngoscope
IS - 6
ER -