Hearing impairment in young and middle-aged septicemia survivors

The ability of sepsis to induce acute phase hearing impairment has been evaluated in septic and sepsis-surviving mice. The relationship between septicemia and long-term hearing impairment remains unknown in humans. The data were obtained from the Taiwan Longitudinal National Health Insurance Database from 2000 to 2013. We identified patients suffering from septicemia after discharge, excluding those younger than 18 years old and older than 65 years old. The comparison group was matched based on age, sex, and comorbidities. The outcome was hearing impairment occurring after septicemia. The risk factors associated with hearing impairment were established using multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression. Our study found that septicemia associated with hearing impairment had an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 53.11 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 41.74–67.59). The other factors related to hearing impairment in young and middle-aged septicemia survivors included male sex (adjusted HR 1.31 [95% CI: 1.14–1.5]), chronic kidney disease (adjusted HR 1.63 [95% CI: 1.38–1.94]), and otoscleroisis (adjusted HR 231.54 [95% CI: 31.61–1695.8]). Our study revealed that septicemia was associated with increased development of hearing impairment in young and middle-aged humans in the long term. Clinicians should be aware of long-term septicemia-related hearing impairment and provide prevention strategies for otopathy in septicemia survivors.