Association of dietary factors with noise-induced hearing loss in Korean population: A 3-year national cohort study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 12; p. e0279884
• Main Authors: Lee, Hyun Jin, Lee, Juhyung, Yoon, Chulyoung, Park, Yesai, Joo, Young-Hoon, Park, Jun-Ook, Seo, Young Joon, Park, Kyoung Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 30.12.2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Age; Alcohol; Alcohol use; Audiometry; Biology and Life Sciences; Blood pressure; Carbohydrates; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Cross-sectional studies; Deafness; Diagnosis; Diet; Ears & hearing; Health aspects; Health surveys; Hearing; Hearing loss; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced - epidemiology; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced - etiology; Humans; Males; Management; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolic disorders; Metabolic syndrome; Multiple regression analysis; Multivariate analysis; Niacin; Nicotinic acid; Noise; Noise control; Noise levels; Noise, Occupational - adverse effects; Nutrient loss; Nutrients; Nutrition; Nutrition Surveys; Obesity; Occupational Exposure; Oxidative stress; Physical sciences; Population; Regression analysis; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Review boards; Risk factors; Risk reduction; Smoking; Statistical analysis; Surveys; Triglycerides; Vitamin A; Womens health; Republic of Korea; South Korea; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279884

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a hearing impairment (HI) caused by various clinical factors. Identifying the relationship between NIHL and nutrient consumption could help in reducing the prevalence of hearing loss. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between NIHL and dietary factors using data of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination survey (KNHANES). The data were collected from The Fifth KNHANES 2010-2012. The survey was taken by a total of 10,850 participants aged 20-65 years. Air conduction audiometry was measured at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz in both ears. Metabolic syndrome, noise exposure, alcohol consumption, smoking, income level, marital status, and nutritional intake were evaluated. The differences between non-HI and HI participants in the noise-exposed group showed statistically significant differences in age, sex, marital and smoking status, alcohol consumption, and fasting glucose and triglyceride levels (p<0.05). In a multiple regression analysis of the noise-exposed group, age showed a significant association with HI (OR: 0.604; 95% CI: 0.538-0.678) after adjusting for confounders. In multivariate analysis for dietary factors affecting HI in noise-exposed groups, retinol (OR: 1.356; 95% CI: 1.068-1.722), niacin (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.022-2.201), and carbohydrates (OR: 0.692; 95% CI: 0.486-0.985) showed a significant association with NIHL. Age was identified as the only factor significantly affecting NIHL. When the dietary factors of the noise-exposed group were analyzed, high intake of niacin and retinol and low intake of carbohydrates appeared to reduce the risk of hearing loss.