Objective: Epidemiological evidence on the relationship between hearing loss (HL) and depressive symptoms, especially in the middle aged, is limited. The present cross-sectional study investigated this issue in middle-aged and older Japanese individuals separately.
Methods: Study subjects were 1018 Japanese adults aged 36-84 years. We used the audiometric definition of HL, which identifies the speech-frequency pure tone average (PTA) hearing thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz as an average of four frequencies. HL was defined as present when PTA was > 25 dB HL in the better-hearing ear. Presence of depressive symptoms was defined as a Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale score ≥ 16. Adjustment was made for age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, leisure time physical activity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, waist circumference, employment, education, and household income.
Results: The prevalence values of HL and depressive symptoms were 11.5% and 15.0%, respectively, among the 575 subjects aged < 65 years and 42.2% and 10.4%, respectively, among the 443 subjects aged ≥ 65 years. Among the 1018 participants, HL was independently related to a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms: the multivariate-adjusted OR was 1.92 (95% CI: 1.19-3.08). This positive association was stronger among middle-aged participants, with a multivariate-adjusted OR of 2.70 (95% CI: 1.34-5.27), but was not significant in the elderly, with a multivariate-adjusted OR of 1.71 (95% CI: 0.83-3.54).
Conclusion: HL may be positively associated with depressive symptoms in middle-aged, but not older, individuals.
Keywords: Cross-sectional study; Depressive symptoms; Elderly; Hearing loss; Japan; Middle-age.
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