Wei-Chuan Shangkuan1, Hung-Che Lin1,2, Cheng-Ping Shih1,2, Chun-An Cheng1,3, Hueng-Chuen Fan1,4, Chi-Hsiang Chung1,5,6, Fu-Huang Lin1,5, Chang-Huei Tsao1,7, Wu-Chien Chien1,5,6. 1. National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan. 2. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan. 3. Department of Neurology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan. 4. Department of Pediatrics, Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan. 5. School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan. 6. Department of Medical Research, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan. 7. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: We investigated incidences of hearing loss among patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to evaluate whether they had a higher risk of hearing loss than the general population. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study. METHODS: Inpatient data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2010 were recorded. Patients with TBI and a retrospective comparison cohort were analyzed. Each subject was individually traced from their index date to identify subjects who subsequently received a diagnosis of hearing loss. Cox regression analyses were applied to determine the risk of TBI-related hearing loss. RESULTS: Follow-up data from the TBI and comparison cohorts were collected over 10 years for 553,286 and 1,106,572 patients, respectively. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that TBI significantly increased the risk of hearing loss (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.125, 95% confidence interval = 2.045-2.546, P = .027). In our subgroup analyses by type of injury, patients with TBI due to traffic injury had the highest associated risk of hearing loss compared with the risk of non-TBI traffic injury patients, followed by patients with crushing/cutting/piercing injuries and falls. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that TBI led to a higher risk of long-term hearing loss. Traffic injuries were the most common injury related to hearing loss. Prevention, rather than treatment, may be the best policy for preventing hearing loss. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2b. Laryngoscope, 127:2627-2635, 2017.
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: We investigated incidences of hearing loss among patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to evaluate whether they had a higher risk of hearing loss than the general population. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study. METHODS: Inpatient data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2010 were recorded. Patients with TBI and a retrospective comparison cohort were analyzed. Each subject was individually traced from their index date to identify subjects who subsequently received a diagnosis of hearing loss. Cox regression analyses were applied to determine the risk of TBI-related hearing loss. RESULTS: Follow-up data from the TBI and comparison cohorts were collected over 10 years for 553,286 and 1,106,572 patients, respectively. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that TBI significantly increased the risk of hearing loss (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.125, 95% confidence interval = 2.045-2.546, P = .027). In our subgroup analyses by type of injury, patients with TBI due to traffic injury had the highest associated risk of hearing loss compared with the risk of non-TBI traffic injurypatients, followed by patients with crushing/cutting/piercing injuries and falls. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that TBI led to a higher risk of long-term hearing loss. Traffic injuries were the most common injury related to hearing loss. Prevention, rather than treatment, may be the best policy for preventing hearing loss. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2b. Laryngoscope, 127:2627-2635, 2017.