ObjectivesChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a multisystemic disease has a measurable and biologically explainable impact on the auditory function detectable in the laboratory. This study tries to clarify if COPD is also a significant and clinically relevant risk factor for hearing impairment detectable in the general practice setting.DesignRetrospective matched cohort study with selection of patients diagnosed with COPD.Setting12 general practices in Lower Austria.ParticipantsConsecutive patients >35 years with a diagnosis of COPD who consulted 1 of 12 single-handed GPs in 2009 and 2010 were asked to participate. Those who agreed were individually 1:1 matched with controls according to age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease and chronic heart failure.Main outcome measuresSensorineural hearing impairment as assessed by pure tone audiometry, answers of three questions concerning a self-perceived hearing problem, application of the whispered voice test and the score of the Hearing Inventory for the Elderly, Screening Version (HHIE-S).Results194 patients (97 pairs of 194 cases and controls) with a mean age of 65.5 (SD 10.2) were tested. Univariate conditional logistic regression resulted in significant differences in the mean bone conduction hearing loss and in the total score of HHIE-S, in the multiple conditional regression model, only smoking (p<0.0001) remained significant.ConclusionsThe results of this study do not support the hypothesis that there is an association between COPD and hearing impairment which, if found, would have allowed better management of patients with COPD.

It has all started 10 years ago, at my first WON CA Europe conference in Istanbul in 2008, where I became amazed by so many general practitioners, who performed and presented their scientific work there. However it took me 7 years since the idea to start my PhD studies until it´s final completion in 2017. My PhD journey wasn´t straight, but rather twisty, with 2 interruptions. In 2011 I started to earn my basic research skills at 2 courses. The first one was the European General Practice Research Network (EG PRN) course in Nice and the second University of Crete´s research workshop in Slovakia lead by Professor Christos Lionis. The easiest part of my PhD studies was the clinical one – administering questionnaire and performing spirometry with my patients at my rural general practice. I also enjoyed teaching medical students at undergraduate as well as postgraduate level. I gave lectures at national conferences and published articles about general medicine in Slovak scientific journals, focusing on prevention, patient safety and respiratory diseases, especially COPD. I also contributed to two medical text books. My research was presented as posters or oral presentations at 3 WON CA Europe conferences, where I found a great space for sharing research ideas and results. Final results of my PhD thesis are going to be presented at Krakow conference. Even though I was a fruitful author of publications, reaching the goal of an international publication was the most difficult part for me, not achievable without a help of experienced colleague, Austrian general practitioner, Professor Gustav Kamenski.

No abstract