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Abstract: PO2248

Hearing Impairment Among Patients with CKD

Session Information

Category: CKD (Non-Dialysis)

  • 2101 CKD (Non-Dialysis): Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Prevention

Authors

  • Chewcharat, Api, Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • Liu, Weitao, Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • Agarwal, Lipisha, Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • Phipps, Elizabeth Ann, Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • Melendez Young, Jill A., Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Background

Kidney and cochlear have similar physiologic mechanisms involving fluid and electrolytes. Impaired kidney function may affect cochlear function leading to hearing impairment (HI). Nevertheless, the association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hearing impairment is not clear. Moreover, the prevalence of HI among CKD patients has not been well-established.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study among 8,105 US adults aged 20-69 years old in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2012 and 2015-2016. CKD was defined as eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73m2. We calculated the prevalence of HI among CKD population by using analytic survey weights and design factors. We also examined the association between CKD and HI using weighted multivariable logistic regression.

Results

The prevalence of speech frequency HI among patients with CKD was 33.1% vs 14.0 % among control (p<0.001). The prevalence of high-frequency HI among patients with CKD was 74.9% vs 38.7% among control (p<0.001) (Table 1). The prevalence of speech frequency HI was 31.5% among CKD stage 3, 47.0% among CKD stage 4 and 53.6 among CKD stage 5 (p-trend = 0.26). The prevalence of high frequency HI was 74.8% among CKD stage 3, 75.9% among CKD stage 4 and 75.2% among CKD stage 5 (p-trend = 0.99). After adjusting for age, sex, race, income, diabetes, hypertension, history of smoking, alcohol drinking, history of cardiovascular diseases, and loud noise exposure, CKD was significantly associated with higher odds of overall speech frequency HI (OR = 1.94, 95% CI [1.03, 3.64]; p=0.04) and overall high-frequency HI (OR = 3.03, 95%CI [1.83, 5.02]; p<0.001).

Conclusion

Nearly one-third of CKD patients have speech frequency HI and about 75% have high frequency HI. Both speech frequency and high-frequency HI are common even in the early stage of CKD. CKD is independently associated with speech frequency and high frequency HI. Early screening and intervening on HI among CKD patients may enhance speech communication, prevent social isolation and improve quality of life.