Association Between Triglyceride-Glucose Index and Hearing Threshold Shifts of Adults in the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2015–2016

Abstract

Objective Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL) is a representative human sensory impairment, few studies have paid attention to the correlation between the Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) index and SNHL to date. We conducted this analysis to elucidate the correlation between the TyG index and pure tone hearing thresholds among US adults. Methods Our analysis included 1226 adults (age range: 20 to 69 years old) from the 2015–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. TyG index was scored into three quartiles. Weighted univariate analysis, weighted multivariate linear regression analyses as well as smooth curve fittings evaluated the associations between TyG index and pure tone hearing thresholds. Results In the multiple regression analysis, the second tertile of TyG index was negatively associated with high-frequency hearing thresholds shifts. Furthermore, the non-linear relationships between TyG index and speech-frequency and high-frequency hearing thresholds were identified by smooth curve fittings. After adjusting for potential confounders, the fitted smooth curves were approximately U-shaped, and the two-segment linear regression models were constructed to calculate their inflection points. Conclusion Our findings suggested that the TyG index was nearly U-shaped association with speech-frequency and high-frequency hearing thresholds. These results may imply the importance of maintaining a balanced TyG index in health management.