Jo Yong Seok, Lee Jeon Mi
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 18;19(12):e0315580. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0315580. eCollection 2024.
The relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and hearing loss (HL) remains uncertain. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between OSA and HL, and to identify which factors play a key role.
A retrospective review was conducted of 90 subjects diagnosed with OSA. These subjects underwent overnight polysomnography (PSG) and pure-tone audiometry at a single institution from February 2014 to November 2023. Hearing evaluations involved the comparison of OSA subjects with a non-OSA group, identified through national data utilizing the STOP-BANG questionnaire (SBQ) and age-sex 1:1 matching. Subsequently, individuals with OSA were categorized into HL and non-HL groups. Comparisons were made to ascertain differences in PSG parameters, followed by regression analysis to assess their actual impact.
The OSA group exhibited elevated hearing thresholds across all frequencies compared to the non-OSA group. Furthermore, classification of OSA subjects into the HL and non-HL groups revealed a statistically significant increase in apnea duration in the HL group for all-frequency and high-frequency cases (p = 0.038, 0.006). Multiple linear regression analysis, adjusting for age and sex, revealed a significant influence of apnea duration on HL in both all-frequency and high-frequency cases (ß = 0.404, p = 0.002; ß = 0.425, p = 0.001).
These findings underscore the significant association between OSA and reduced auditory function, with apnea duration standing out as a crucial factor contributing to hearing loss. Our results suggest that prolonged apnea duration may be a marker of chronic hypoxic damage in patients with OSA, further clarifying its potential role in the development of hearing loss.
阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）与听力损失（HL）之间的关系仍不明确。本研究旨在调查OSA与HL之间的关系，并确定哪些因素起关键作用。
对90例被诊断为OSA的受试者进行回顾性研究。这些受试者于2014年2月至2023年11月在单一机构接受了夜间多导睡眠图（PSG）检查和纯音听力测试。听力评估包括将OSA受试者与通过使用 STOP-BANG问卷（SBQ）和年龄-性别1:1匹配的全国数据确定的非OSA组进行比较。随后，将OSA患者分为HL组和非HL组。进行比较以确定PSG参数的差异，然后进行回归分析以评估它们的实际影响。
与非OSA组相比，OSA组在所有频率上的听力阈值均升高。此外，将OSA受试者分为HL组和非HL组后发现，在全频和高频情况下，HL组的呼吸暂停持续时间有统计学意义的增加（p = 0.038，0.006）。在调整年龄和性别后进行的多元线性回归分析显示，在全频和高频情况下，呼吸暂停持续时间对HL均有显著影响（ß = 0.404，p = 0.002；ß = 0.425，p = 0.001）。
这些发现强调了OSA与听觉功能减退之间的显著关联，呼吸暂停持续时间是导致听力损失的关键因素。我们的结果表明，延长的呼吸暂停持续时间可能是OSA患者慢性缺氧损伤的一个标志，进一步阐明了其在听力损失发展中的潜在作用。
