Association between Anemia and Auditory Threshold Shifts in the US Population: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

• Main Authors: Jui-Hu Shih, I-Hsun Li, Ke-Ting Pan, Chih-Hung Wang, Hsin-Chien Chen, Li-Yun Fann, Jen-Ho Tseng, Li-Ting Kao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-06-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: anemia; hearing loss; auditory threshold shifts; pure tone average
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3916
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601

Existing evidence indicates that both iron deficiency anemia and sickle cell anemia have been previously associated with hearing loss. However, human data investigating the association between anemia and auditory threshold shifts at different frequencies in the adolescent, adult and elderly population are extremely limited to date. Therefore, this cross-sectional study used the dataset from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2005 to 2012 to explore differences in low- or high-frequency hearing thresholds and hearing loss prevalence between participants with and without anemia. A total of 918 patients with anemia and 8213 without anemia were included. Results indicated that low- and high-frequency pure tone average were significantly higher in patients with anemia than that in those without anemia in the elderly, but not in adult or adolescent population. In addition, the prevalence of low-frequency hearing loss but not high-frequency hearing loss was also higher in patients with anemia than in those without anemia in the elderly population. After adjusting various confounders, multiple regression models still indicated that patients with anemia tended to have larger threshold shift. In conclusion, anemia was associated with auditory threshold shifts in the elderly population, especially those vulnerable to low-frequency hearing loss.