Hyperuricemia more likely to cause hearing loss in elderly patients

Hyperuricemia is a condition characterized by elevated uric acid level in the blood. The normal upper limit is 6.8mg/dL, and anything over 7 mg/dL is considered saturated, and various symptoms can occur and needs proper medical manangement.

Hyperuricemia is known to cause variety of comorbidities. The current study investigates the association between hyperuricemia and hearing impairment in Korean adults. The study found that hyperuricemia as an independent factor associated with hearing impairment, especially in females and the elderly aged 60 years or more however gout was not associated with the same. The findings are published in Medicina journal.

The researchers conducted an audiometric and laboratory test data from the 2019 to 2020 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were used for analysis. Hearing impairment was defined as a pure-tone average (0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz) threshold level ≥ 41 decibels. The definition of hyperuricemia was different for males and females: >7 mg/dL for males vs. >6 mg/dL for females.

The key findings of the study are

• A total of 4857 (weight n = 17,990,725) subjects were analyzed. The mean age was 56.8 years old. The weighted prevalence was 12.1% for hyperuricemia and 2.5% for gout.

• The prevalence of hearing impairment was 13.4%. In the univariable analysis, hyperuricemia was significantly associated with hearing impairment.

• However, the diagnosis of gout was not associated with hearing impairment. In the multivariable analysis, hyperuricemia (odds ratios (OR): 1.41, p = 0.030) was associated with hearing impairment along with age (OR: 1.12, p < 0.001), female sex (OR: 0.43, p < 0.001), education (OR: 0.43, p = 0.001), and occupational noise exposure (OR: 1.67, p = 0.001).

• In the subgroup analysis, hyperuricemia was associated with hearing impairment in females (OR: 1.59, p = 0.041) and the elderly aged 60 years or more (OR: 1.45, p = 0.023).

Researchers concluded that “Hyperuricemia was independently associated with hearing impairment, especially in females and the elderly aged 60 years or more.”

Reference: Jeong H, Chang YS, Jeon CH. Association between Hyperuricemia and Hearing Impairment: Results from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Medicina (Kaunas). 2023;59(7):1273. Published 2023 Jul 9. doi:10.3390/medicina59071273.