The association of sex steroid hormone concentrations with hearing loss: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background

Hearing loss is the most prevalent sensory disorder worldwide. Several studies have indicated that sex steroid hormone levels may be vital to hearing.

Objective

We aimed to explore the associations between speech-frequency hearing loss and sex steroid hormones.

Methods

We conducted a secondary analysis based on 3558 adult participants’ data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2015 to 2016. We defined hearing loss as a pure-tone average (PTA) at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz ≥20 dB in the better ear. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between sex steroid hormones and hearing loss risk. A nomogram model for the risk of hearing loss was constructed.

Results

There were 560 (15.7%) cases who had hearing loss among the participants enrolled in this study. Participants with hearing loss had a higher total testosterone level and a lower estradiol level. Individuals with estradiol levels in the highest tertile still had lower hearing loss risks than those in the lowest tertile. Nevertheless, the total testosterone level had no influence on the risk of hearing loss.

Conclusion

Our research indicated that low estradiol concentrations were significantly associated with hearing loss, especially in menopausal women.

Chinese abstract

背景：听力损失是世界上最普遍的感觉障碍。 若干项研究表明, 性类固醇激素水平可能对听力至关重要。

目的：我们旨在探讨语频听力损失与性类固醇激素之间的关联。

方法：我们根据2015 年至 2016 年国家健康与营养检查调查 (NHANES)的 3558 名成人参与者的数据进行了二次分析。我们将听力损失定义为较好的耳在 0.5、1、2 和 4kHz 时的纯音平均值 (PTA) ≥20dB。 多元逻辑回归分析用于评估性类固醇激素与听力损失风险之间的关联。 构建了听力损失风险的列线图模型。

结果：参加本项研究的参与者中有 560 人（15.7%）患听力损失。 听力损失的参与者总睾酮水平较高, 雌二醇水平较低。雌二醇水平处于最高三分位的患者听力损失风险仍低于处于最低三分位的患者。 然而, 总睾酮水平对听力损失的风险没有影响。

结论：我们的研究表明, 低雌二醇浓度与听力损失显著相关, 尤其是更年期妇女。

Keywords:

• Hearing loss
• sex steroid hormone
• estradiol
• predictive model
• nomogram

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for sharing the data.

Authors’ contributions

CQH, conception and design, presentation; HFY, conduct, analysis, presentation; JL, conduct, analysis; XYS, conduct, analysis; WWL, analysis, interpretation; YW, conduct.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data come from the information sharing platform, which can be exempt from ethical review. Specific details can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by Nanjing Medical Science and Technology Development Fund (Grant No. YKK22217).