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A significant
association between gout and a higher risk of development
of hearing loss is noted in older adults, study finds.
A retrospective
cohort study conducted by the researchers of the University of Alabama,
Birmingham, Alabama, USA explains a significant association of gout with the
higher risk of hearing loss during old age. In gout, higher uric acid levels in
the blood may lead to changes in cochlea microvascular, leading to stiffness in
Outer Hair Cells (OHC) stiff and disturbances in OHC electrical motility which
ultimately causes hearing dysfunction. The patients chosen for the analysis
were the US adults of age 65 years or older. The current hearing loss
recognised via the existence of at least two claims approximately four weeks
apart with an ICD, Ninth Revision, 389.xx, with no particular claim in the
baseline 1-year investigation stage were considered as the outcomes of the
study.
The 89 409, out of
1.71 million eligible people showed the hearing loss. The crude prevalence per
1000 person-years of hearing impairment among the gout people noticed were 16.9
as compared to 8.7 of people without gout. Patients with gout exhibited a significantly
higher HR of incident hearing impairment with Cox regression analyses when
adjusted for medical comorbidity, demographics and common cardiovascular and
gout medicines (p<0.0001). Substituted continuous Charlson-Romano Index with
categorical variable or all comorbidities and cardiovascular risk factors along
with minimum depletion of HR finding were confirmed during the sensitivity
analyses. This explains a significant association between hearing issues and
gout. Further evaluation is required to determine the underlying mechanisms of
this relationship.
BMJ Open
Gout and hearing impairment in the elderly: a retrospective cohort study using the US Medicare claims data.
Jasvinder A Singh, John D Cleveland
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