Abstract
Objective: 1) Test the the hypothesis that central adiposity measured by computed tomography is a better predictor of the risk of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) than is body mass index (BMI), or waist circumference (WC). 2) Determine whether the visceral/subcutaneous fat ratio (VSR) is a significant risk factor for age-related hearing loss.
Method: We performed a retrospective review of medical records from 235 adult subjects, either normal or symmetric sensorineural hearing loss, who visited the ASAN Health Promotion Center between July 2010 and June 2011. All subjects underwent fat measurement abdominal CT. The mean individual subject thresholds of 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz. and 4 kHz were averaged to obtain the average pure tone hearing level (PTA). Glucose, lipid profile, BMI, and WC were measured after an overnight fast.
Results: VSR, WC, and age were positively associated with PTA score. But in men, VSR showed a positive association with borderline significance with PTA score. With backward stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis, VSR, but not WC, showed significant positive association with PTA score in females. When age, systemic disease, and other variables were adjusted using logistic regression analysis, WC and VSR showed significant positive correlation with hearing loss in males. However in women, VSR, but not WC, showed a significant positive correlation with hearing loss.
Conclusion: The VSR is an independent risk factor for ARHL. The VSR which is measured by CT is a better predictor of the risk of ARHI than is BMI or WC, especially for women.
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