Sex-Specific Associations Between Diabetes Mellitus and Hearing Loss in the Middle-Aged and Elderly Individuals: A National Cohort Study of Chinese Adults

Weiwei Wang; Chen Zhang; Ruogu Meng; Siyan Zhan; Shengfeng Wang; Lei Feng; Yongfeng Song

doi:10.1016/j.eprac.2022.01.003

Sex-Specific Associations Between Diabetes Mellitus and Hearing Loss in the Middle-Aged and Elderly Individuals: A National Cohort Study of Chinese Adults

Endocr Pract. 2022 Apr;28(4):357-363. doi: 10.1016/j.eprac.2022.01.003. Epub 2022 Jan 13.

Authors

Weiwei Wang¹, Chen Zhang², Ruogu Meng³, Siyan Zhan⁴, Shengfeng Wang⁵, Lei Feng⁶, Yongfeng Song⁷

Affiliations

¹ National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China.
³ National Institute of Health Data Science, Center for Data Science in Health and Medicine, Peking University, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China; Research Center of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China; Center for Intelligent Public Health, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Peking University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: shengfeng1984@126.com.
⁶ National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: flxlm@ccmu.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China; Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, China; Shandong Institute of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Jinan, China. Electronic address: syf198506@163.com.

PMID: 35033657
DOI: 10.1016/j.eprac.2022.01.003

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between diabetes and hearing loss and whether the association varied by sex.

Methods: This cohort study based on nationally representative data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study included 16 140 Chinese adults aged >45 years between 2011 and 2018. Diabetes was identified by blood glucose levels, HbA1c levels, and a self-reported diagnosis at baseline. The main outcome was self-reported incident hearing loss. Cox proportional hazards regression models were performed to estimate the risk of hearing loss.

Results: We documented 2388 cases of hearing loss during a median 6.9 years of follow-up. The incidence rates were 29.64 (95% CI, 28.07-31.29) per 1000 person-years in women and 25.23 (95% CI, 23.77-26.78) per 1000 person-years in men. After adjustment, the hazard ratios of hearing loss associated with diabetes were 1.20 (95% CI, 1.01-1.42) for women and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.78-1.19) for men. Compared with poor control of the blood sugar levels, the odds ratio for hearing loss for women with good glycemic control was reduced from 5.08 (95% CI, 1.31-19.66) to 1.26 (95% CI, 0.69-2.28), and the corresponding odds ratio for men was 1.65 (95% CI, 0.61-4.44) to 0.50 (95% CI, 0.18-1.38).

Conclusion: In conclusion, we identified a differential effect of sex on hearing loss risk with more pronounced effects for women. Our data suggest that good blood glucose level control is helpful to prevent hearing loss.

Keywords: complication; diabetes mellitus; hearing loss; sex disparity.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Blood Glucose
China / epidemiology
Cohort Studies
Deafness* / complications
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / epidemiology
Female
Hearing Loss* / complications
Hearing Loss* / etiology
Humans
Incidence
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Proportional Hazards Models
Risk Factors

Substances

Blood Glucose