Association Between Hearing Impairment and Albuminuria in the Korean Adults: The 2011–2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Although the associations between albuminuria and renal and cardiovascular diseases, including diabetes and hypertension, have been extensively studied, few studies have investigated the association between albuminuria and hearing impairment. In this study, we assessed the relationship between albuminuria and hearing impairment in 9786 adult Korean subjects, using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) performed in 2011–2012. The range of urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) was divided into 4 grades: grade 1 (first tertile of low-grade albuminuria [LGA]), 0.00 to 1.99 mg/g Cr; grade 2 (second tertile of LGA), 2.00 to 5.49 mg/g Cr; grade 3 (third tertile of LGA), 5.50 to 29.99 mg/g Cr; grade 4 (albuminuria), ≥30.00 mg/g Cr. The age- and sex-adjusted weighted UACR was higher in subjects with hearing impairment compared with those without hearing impairment (26.2 ± 4.7 mg/g Cr vs 14.1 ± 1.5 mg/g Cr, P = 0.020). The age- and sex-adjusted weighted prevalence of albuminuria was also higher in subjects with hearing impairment compared with subjects without hearing impairment. (8.3 ± 0.9% vs 5.8 ± 0.4%, P = 0.013) The age- and sex-adjusted weighted percentage of hearing impairment increased as UACR increased (18.0% ± 0.6%, 20.0% ± 0.8%, 22.2% ± 0.9%, 25.3% ± 2.0%, respectively; P < 0.001). Logistic regression analyses were performed for hearing impairment by albuminuria, with age, sex, tobacco use, heavy alcohol use, educational background, occupational noise exposure, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, total serum cholesterol, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) as covariates. Using grade 1 of UACR as the control, grade 3 (odds ratio [OR] 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–1.53, P = 0.005) and grade 4 (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.04–1.90, P = 0.026) of UACR were correlated with hearing impairment, respectively. When the level of hearing impairment (dB) was analyzed as a continuous variable, it was positively correlated with log UACR (Spearman correlation, unadjusted r = 0.226, adjusted r = 0.076, P < 0.001). In conclusion, we are the first to demonstrate that albuminuria is associated with hearing impairment in the Korean general population, using nationally representative data. Screening for albuminuria would allow for interventions for the prevention of hearing impairment.