CONTEXT: Clinical studies have suggested that cigarette smoking may be associated with hearing loss, a common condition affecting older adults. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between smoking and hearing loss. DESIGN: Population-based, cross-sectional study. SETTING: Community of Beaver Dam, Wis. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 48 to 92 years. Of 4541 eligible subjects, 3753 (83%) participated in the hearing study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The examination included otoscopy, screening tympanometry, and pure-tone air-conduction and bone-conduction audiometry. Smoking history was ascertained by self-report. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) greater than 25-dB hearing level in the worse ear. RESULTS: After adjusting for other factors, current smokers were 1.69 times as likely to have a hearing loss as nonsmokers (95% confidence interval, 1.31-2.17). This relationship remained for those without a history of occupational noise exposure and in analyses excluding those with non-age-related hearing loss. There was weak evidence of a dose-response effect. Nonsmoking participants who lived with a smoker were more likely to have a hearing loss than those who were not exposed to a household member who smoked (odds ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-3.74). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that environmental exposures may play a role in age-related hearing loss. If longitudinal studies confirm these findings, modification of smoking habits may prevent or delay age-related declines in hearing sensitivity.
CONTEXT: Clinical studies have suggested that cigarette smoking may be associated with hearing loss, a common condition affecting older adults. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between smoking and hearing loss. DESIGN: Population-based, cross-sectional study. SETTING: Community of Beaver Dam, Wis. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 48 to 92 years. Of 4541 eligible subjects, 3753 (83%) participated in the hearing study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The examination included otoscopy, screening tympanometry, and pure-tone air-conduction and bone-conduction audiometry. Smoking history was ascertained by self-report. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) greater than 25-dB hearing level in the worse ear. RESULTS: After adjusting for other factors, current smokers were 1.69 times as likely to have a hearing loss as nonsmokers (95% confidence interval, 1.31-2.17). This relationship remained for those without a history of occupational noise exposure and in analyses excluding those with non-age-related hearing loss. There was weak evidence of a dose-response effect. Nonsmoking participants who lived with a smoker were more likely to have a hearing loss than those who were not exposed to a household member who smoked (odds ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-3.74). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that environmental exposures may play a role in age-related hearing loss. If longitudinal studies confirm these findings, modification of smoking habits may prevent or delay age-related declines in hearing sensitivity.
Authors: Robert D Frisina; Heather E Wheeler; Sophie D Fossa; Sarah L Kerns; Chunkit Fung; Howard D Sesso; Patrick O Monahan; Darren R Feldman; Robert Hamilton; David J Vaughn; Clair J Beard; Amy Budnick; Eileen M Johnson; Shirin Ardeshir-Rouhani-Fard; Lawrence H Einhorn; Steven E Lipshultz; M Eileen Dolan; Lois B Travis Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 2016-06-27 Impact factor: 44.544
Authors: Dayna S Dalton; Carla R Schubert; Alex Pinto; Mary E Fischer; Guan-Hua Huang; Barbara E K Klein; Ronald Klein; James S Pankow; Adam J Paulsen; Michael Y Tsai; Ted S Tweed; Karen J Cruickshanks Journal: Laryngoscope Date: 2019-08-19 Impact factor: 3.325