Increased atherogenic index in the general hearing loss population

Huai Zhang; Dahui Wang; Haiyan Ma; Ying Ren; Chenhui Li; Yihua Zheng; Xiaoming Dai; Lei Yang; Liangwen Xu

doi:10.1515/med-2020-0003

Increased atherogenic index in the general hearing loss population

Open Med (Wars). 2020 May 23;15(1):349-357. doi: 10.1515/med-2020-0003. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Huai Zhang¹, Dahui Wang¹, Haiyan Ma¹, Ying Ren¹, Chenhui Li¹, Yihua Zheng², Xiaoming Dai³, Lei Yang¹, Liangwen Xu¹

Affiliations

¹ The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Breath internal medicine department, The People's Hospital of Jiangshan, Jiangshan, Zhejiang, China.
³ Hospital director's office, Tonglu First People's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of hearing loss with atherogenic index (AI) in the general population.

Methods: A multistage study using cluster random sampling method was conducted in the Zhejiang province from 2016 to 2018. Pure-tone air-conduction hearing thresholds were measured at frequencies of 0.125-8 kHz for each subject. After obtaining their consent, all participants were asked to provide their own plasma lipid data.

Results: A total of 3,414 eligible participants were included, 1,765 (51.7%) were men and 1,649 (48.3%) were women and 1,113 (32.6%) had hearing loss. Ridge regression showed increased AI in subjects with hearing loss. The subgroup with the highest quartile of AI, presenting the highest risk of hearing loss as compared to the lowest quartile, comprised young and middle-aged women. Further analysis revealed that the AI in people with different categories of hearing loss was higher than that in the normal population, except for those with (extremely) severe hearing loss. Moreover, the young and middle-aged women exhibited the most significant correlations between AI and hearing loss.

Conclusion: AI was positively associated with hearing loss in the general population, especially the young and middle-aged women.

Keywords: atherogenic index; general population; hearing loss.