Is undernutrition a risk factor for sensorineural hearing loss in early infancy?

Abstract

The present cross-sectional study set out to determine the nutritional status of infants aged 0 -3 months with the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference (WHO-MGR) and examine the relationship between undernutrition and congenital or early-onset sensorineural hearing loss (CESHL) rarely reported for developing countries. The nutritional status of all infants attending community-based clinics for routine Bacille de Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunisation from July 2005 to December 2006 was determined by weight-for-age, weight-for-length and BMI-for-age based on the WHO-MGR. Hearing loss status was determined by tympanometry, auditory brainstem response (ABR) and visual response audiometry after a two-stage screening with transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and automated ABR. The relationship between nutritional status and CESHL were explored after adjusting for potentially confounding maternal and infant characteristics using multivariable logistic regression analyses. Of the 3386 infants who completed the hearing evaluation protocol, seventy-one were confirmed with hearing loss (.30 dB hearing level). More than one-third (37·9 %) of all infants and over half (54·9 %) of those with CESHL were undernourished by at least one measure of growth. Stunting (35·3 %) was the most prevalent nutritional deficit in infants with CESHL. In the final logistic model, infants with any undernourished physical state were significantly likely to have CESHL (OR 1·67; 95 % CI 1·03, 2·77) and of a severe-to-profound degree (OR 3·92; 95 % CI 1·38, 11·17) compared with infants without any undernourishment. Prospective studies to establish the full spectrum of the relationship between undernutrition and CESHL, particularly in resource-poor countries, are therefore warranted.

Relationship between child development and nutritional status of under-five Nigerian children

“…The effect of malnutrition on hearing and language, as observed in this study, has also been observed in other studies. [20][21][22] Previous studies [20][21][22] have shown that malnutrition causes delay in maturation of the auditory pathway and also affects both central and peripheral hearing. Nutritional deficiencies, even in acute form, impair the normal functioning of the middle ear, with negative consequences for the entire auditory system.…”

Societal‐level Risk Factors Associated with Pediatric Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review

“…Infants with any undernourished physical state were significantly more likely to have severe-profound sensori-neural hearing loss than infants without any undernourishment. 17 The second publication built upon these results and added weight-for-length as a fourth index. It also encompassed a larger total study population (n = 6585) and also demonstrated that early-onset permanent hearing loss was significantly more prevalent among undernourished infants.…”

“…The analyses by mean body indices may be more widely applicable, since sex-specific z -scores for nutritional indices were obtained from the World Health Organization Multicentre Growth references. 17,18,38 …”

Nutritional Challenges of Children with Disabilities in Special Needs Center in Mainland, Lagos State, Nigeria

“…Nutrient needs tend to lie in parallel rates of children growth. Olusanya [2] noted that growth continues at a steady rate during childhood then, accelerates during adolescence, creating increases in nutrient needs to support the rapid growth rate and increase in lean body mass and body size. The nutrient requirements among individuals differ with age, gender, body size and physiological state.…”

“…Although the focus of concern for children with disability is generally around under-nutrition, becoming overweight is also a concern for some disabled children. For example, children with certain physical disabilities are less mobile and therefore at risk of becoming overweight [2]. Other children with certain types of genetic impairments (e.g., Sotos syndrome) or intellectual or mental health disabilities may have eating disorders which place them at greater risk of becoming overweight.…”