Association between Proton Pump Inhibitors and Hearing Impairment: A Nested Case-Control Study

This study investigated the association of previous use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) with the rate of hearing impairment. The ≥40-year-old population in the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort was enrolled. The 6626 registered hearing-impaired patients were matched with 508,240 control participants for age, sex, income, region of residence, and index date (date of hearing impairment diagnosis). The prescription histories of PPIs were collected for 2 years before the index date. The odds ratios of the duration of PPI use for hearing impairment were analyzed using conditional logistic regression. Subgroups of age/sex and severity of hearing impairments were additionally analyzed for the relation of PPI use with hearing impairment. PPI use for 30–365 days was associated with a 1.65-times higher odds of hearing impairment (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.47–1.86 for 30–365 days of PPI medication). PPI use for ≥365 days was also related to 1.52-times higher odds of hearing impairment (95% CI = 1.35–1.72, p < 0.001). All age and sex subgroups demonstrated a positive association between PPI use and hearing impairment. Severe hearing impairment showed consistently higher odds of a relation with PPI use. PPI use was associated with an increased rate of hearing impairment.