Chronic kidney disease and the risk of incident hearing loss.

OBJECTIVES

There is a strikingly high prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss among patients with chronic kidney disease, with estimates ranging from 36% to 77%; however, longitudinal data are limited. We assessed whether lower baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate calculated using creatinine (eGFR ), as well as decline in eGFR over time, were associated with incident hearing loss.

METHODS

Serum creatinine was measured in 1,843 individuals aged 48 to 80 years without hearing loss at the start of the Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study in 1993. Follow-up creatinine assessments were conducted at 5 (n = 1,526) and 10 (n = 1,095) years. Hearing tests were conducted at baseline and at 5-, 10-, and 15-year follow-up visits. The risk of hearing loss was assessed as a function of baseline eGFR as well as a function of a 20% decline in eGFR between baseline and 5 years and between 5 and 10 years. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the risk of incident speech-frequency hearing loss, defined as pure tone average (PTA) > 25 decibels hearing loss for thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz (PTA ) in either ear.

RESULTS

During 15,676 person-years of follow up, there were 802 cases of incident hearing loss. There was no statistically significant association between lower baseline eGFR and risk of incident hearing loss. Decline in eGFR was also not associated with incident hearing loss at speech frequencies.

CONCLUSION

Overall, there was no significant association between eGFR or decline in eGFR using the serum creatinine-based equation and risk of incident hearing loss.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

2 Laryngoscope, 130:E213-E219, 2020.