Association between low-grade albuminuria and hearing impairment in a non-diabetic Korean population: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011–2013)

Abstract

Introduction The objective of the present study was to examine the association between low-grade albuminuria and hearing impairment in the non-diabetic population. Materials and methods Data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2013 were used in the analyses. Participants were excluded from this study if they were younger than 19 years old, or had urine albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) ≥ 30 mg/g or diabetes mellitus. There were 10 608 participants included in this study. The participants were divided into three groups according to their UACR tertiles. Results There were 1560; 1561; and 1552 male and 1982; 1975; and 1978, female participants in the low, middle, and high tertile groups, respectively. The results indicated the association between low-grade albuminuria and the numbers of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components or Framingham risk score, and the presence of MetS or the proportions of participants at high cardiovascular risk. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses demonstrated an association between the UACR and average hearing threshold (AHT) that was observed in both sexes. Multivariate analyses showed that mean AHTs in the low, middle, and high tertile groups were, respectively, 16.127 dB, 17.139 dB, and 18.604 dB for men, and 14.842 dB, 15.100 dB, and 16.353 dB, respectively, for women. Low-frequency, mid-frequency, and high-frequency hearing thresholds according to UACR tertiles showed similar trends. In both sexes, multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that participants in the low and middle tertile groups had a decreased risk for hearing loss compared to participants in the high tertile group. Conclusion Low-grade albuminuria was associated with hearing impairment in the non-diabetic participants of this study.

Key messages

• Low-grade albuminuria is associated with MetS and cardiovascular risk in the non-diabetic population.

• Low-grade albuminuria is associated with hearing thresholds and hearing loss in the non-diabetic population.

• Participants with low-grade albuminuria may be closely monitored for hearing impairment.

Keywords:

• Albuminuria
• Framingham risk
• hearing loss
• metabolic syndrome

Acknowledgements

Seok Hui Kang and Da Jung Jung contributed equally to this work.

Declaration of interest

All authors report no conflict of interest.

This work was supported by the Medical Research Center Program (2015R1A5A2009124) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.