Disability of Hearing Impairment Is Positively Associated With Urine Albumin/Creatinine Ratio in Korean Adults: The 2011–2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
- Author:
Young Soo KIM
1
;
Dong Hee LEE
;
Hiun Suk CHAE
;
Tae Kyu LEE
;
Tae Seo SOHN
;
Seong Cheol JEONG
;
Hee Yeon KIM
;
Jae Im LEE
;
Jae Yen SONG
;
Chang Dong YEO
;
Young Bok LEE
;
Hyo Suk AHN
;
Mihee HONG
;
Kyungdo HAN
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Hearing Loss; Albuminuria; Epidemiologic Studies; Adult; Korea
- MeSH: Adult*; Albuminuria; Ear; Epidemiologic Studies; Female; Hearing Loss*; Hearing*; Humans; Korea*; Male; Nutrition Surveys*; Prevalence; Reference Values; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic
- From:Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology 2016;9(3):212-219
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine whether chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with hearing thresholds in the nationwide, large-scaled Korean population. METHODS: This study analyzed the data of 9,798 subjects of 19 years and older (4,387 males and 5,411 females). Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) was measured from first-voided spot urine samples. The air-conduction hearing threshold was measured at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 kHz and pure tone audiogram (PTA) average was calculated as the four-frequency average of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz. RESULTS: Urine ACR was significantly correlated with the PTA average of better ear in both genders, especially at 3 and 6 kHz in males and at 1, 3, 4, and 6 kHz in females. After adjusting, urine ACR also increased the risk of hearing loss in female, especially if urine ACR was 30 mg/g and more (odds ratio, 1.636–2.229. This study showed that the degree of hearing loss was significantly different according to categories of urine ACR in both genders. Hearing loss without disability was found less but that with bilateral hearing disability was found more as urine ACR increased. In generally, prevalence of hearing loss with disability was higher in males than females. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that urine ACR was significantly correlated with the PTA average of better ear in Korean adults of both genders. This study suggests that clinicians should carefully monitor the hearing level for subjects with elevated urine ACR, even though high urine ACR within the normal range.
