Alter IL, Tucker LH, Dragon JM, Grewal MR, Saperstein A, Stroup TS, Medalia AA, Golub JS. National Cohort Data Suggests an Association Between Serious Mental Illness and Audiometric Hearing Loss.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2024. [PMID:
38606639 DOI:
10.1002/ohn.763]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To explore whether there is an association between serious mental illness (SMI) and hearing loss (HL) among US Hispanic adults.
STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING
Cross-sectional epidemiological study (Hispanic Community Health Study), including multicentered US volunteers.
METHODS
Multivariable linear regressions were conducted to study the association between SMI and HL. Adjustments were made for potential confounders including age, sex, education, vascular disease (hypertension or diabetes mellitus), and cognition. SMI was defined by (1) antipsychotic medication classification and (2) the use of at least 1 antipsychotic medication specifically used to treat SMI in clinical psychiatric practice. HL was measured by pure tone audiometry.
RESULTS
A total of 7581 subjects had complete data. The mean age was 55.2 years (SD = 7.5 years) and the mean pure tone average in the better ear was 16.8 dB (SD = 10.7 dB). A total of 194 (2.6%) subjects were taking a HCHS-defined antipsychotic and 98 (1.3%) were taking at least 1 antipsychotic specifically used to treat SMI. On multivariable regression, use of HCHS's classified antipsychotics was associated with 3.75 dB worse hearing (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.36-5.13, P < .001) and use of antipsychotics specific for SMI was associated with 4.49 dB worse hearing (95% CI = 2.56-6.43, P < .001) compared to those not using antipsychotics.
CONCLUSION
SMI, as defined by either the use of HCHS-defined antipsychotics or the use of antipsychotic medication specific for SMI, is associated with worse hearing, controlling for potential confounders. Whether SMI contributes to HL, antipsychotic medication (through ototoxicity) contributes to HL, or whether HL contributes to SMI is unknown and warrants further investigation.
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