The Study on the Hearing Status of Adult in Their 20s according to the Body Mass Index Value

Abstract

The relationship between weight and hearing loss is unclear. But childhood obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 95%, is a significant health problem associated with a variety of disorders, and in adults it has been found to be a risk factor for hearing loss. Thus in this study, analyzed the relationship between hearing loss and BMI in a 20s young adults. Methods: A total of 49 participants, including 27 females and 20 males aged 21-25 participated in this study. Subjects were divided into three groups according to BMI (underweight, normal, overweight). In all subjects, pure-tone and speech audiometry, acoustic immittance and otoacoustic emission [OAE; spontaneous otoacoustic emission (SOAE), transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE), distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE)], auditory brainstem response (ABR) were evaluated. Results: The mean of hearing threshold in underweight group were significantly higher than normal group. Regarding the hearing threshold, the low frequency pure tone average threshold was significantly higher in underweight and overweight group. The incidences of SOAEs were 66.7% in normal group, 37.4% in underweight group and 11.1% in overweight group. Between BMI and OAE overweight group had significantly lower TEOAE amplitude. Amplitude of DPOAEs differed significantly among normal, underweight and overweigh BMI group at frequency of 4,000 Hz. Conclusion: We demonstrate for the first time that underweight and overweight in adult in their 20s is associated with higher hearing thresholds in low-frequency. And parameters of OAE, such as amplitude of TEOAE, DPOAE at 4,000 Hz was considered as good indicators for monitoring cochlear function of underweight and overweight BMI group.