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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2023

Open Access 01-12-2023 | Obesity | Research

Obesity and risk of hearing loss in the middle-aged and elderly: a national cohort of Chinese adults

Authors: Chen Zhang, Weiwei Wang, Xiaotian Chang, Siyan Zhan, Shengfeng Wang, Lei Feng, Yongfeng Song

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2023

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Abstract

Background

The relationship between obesity and hearing loss among the middle-aged and older population remained unclear. Moreover, few studies have focused on the impact of gender on this association.

Methods

This cohort study extracted the data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, a national survey of adults aged 45 years or over. Waist circumference was categorized into three groups: normal, pre-central obesity, and central obesity. We classified BMI into four categories: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. The primary endpoint was the incidence of self-reported hearing loss.

Results

Of the 14,237 participants, 1972 incidents of hearing loss were identified during a median 6.9 years of follow-up. The cumulative incidence of hearing loss was 13.9% (95% CI 13.3% -14.4%). Our study showed that central obesity was significantly associated with hearing loss (HR 0.84, 95%CI 0.75–0.94), and this relationship was more prominent in males (HR 0.76, 95%CI 0.63–0.91). Among male participants, the underweight group was at the highest risk of hearing loss (HR 1.39, 95%CI 1.08–1.79). Compared with the normal weight group, the adjusted HR for hearing loss in the obese groups was 0.69 (95%CI 0.51–0.94) among men. Among female participants, only the overweight group had a lower risk of hearing loss than the normal weight group (HR 0.83, 95%CI 0.71–0.96).

Conclusions

Being overweight and obese were significantly associated with a decreased risk of hearing loss, whereas being underweight was associated with an increased risk of hearing loss.
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Metadata
Title
Obesity and risk of hearing loss in the middle-aged and elderly: a national cohort of Chinese adults
Authors
Chen Zhang
Weiwei Wang
Xiaotian Chang
Siyan Zhan
Shengfeng Wang
Lei Feng
Yongfeng Song
Publication date
01-12-2023
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2023
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15974-4

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