Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome with hearing loss: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Chaoyu Wang; Fu Xu; Mingdi Chen; Xiaojuan Chen; Chunhe Li; Xishi Sun; Yu Zhang; Huizhao Liao; Qinglan Wu; Huimin Chen; Shunhong Li; Jinru Zhu; Junyan Lin; Xudong Ou; Zhihong Zou; Yuming Li; Riken Chen; Zhenzhen Zheng; Yang Wang

doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.1017982

Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome with hearing loss: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Neurol. 2022 Oct 19:13:1017982. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.1017982. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Chaoyu Wang^{1

2}, Fu Xu³, Mingdi Chen¹, Xiaojuan Chen⁴, Chunhe Li⁵, Xishi Sun⁶, Yu Zhang⁷, Huizhao Liao⁷, Qinglan Wu⁸, Huimin Chen¹, Shunhong Li⁹, Jinru Zhu¹, Junyan Lin⁷, Xudong Ou⁷, Zhihong Zou⁷, Yuming Li³, Riken Chen⁷, Zhenzhen Zheng¹, Yang Wang¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China.
² Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Taishan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangmen, China.
³ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Affiliated Shunde Hospital of Jinan University, Foshan, China.
⁴ Medical College, Jiaying University, Meizhou, China.
⁵ The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ Department of Emergency, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁸ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Central People's Hospital of Zhanjiang, Zhanjiang, China.
⁹ Department of Ophthalmology, Xinhui Chinese Traditional Hospital, Jiangmen, China.
¹⁰ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First People's Hospital of Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing, China.

Abstract

Objective: This study seeks to investigate the relationship between Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS) and hearing impairment by meta-analysis.

Methods: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and other databases are searched from their establishment to July 1st, 2022. Literature on the relationship between OSAHS and hearing loss is collected, and two researchers independently perform screening, data extraction and quality evaluation on the included literature. Meta-analysis is performed using RevMan 5.4.1 software. According to the heterogeneity between studies, a random-effects model or fixed-effects model is used for meta-analysis.

Results: A total of 10 articles are included, with 7,867 subjects, 1,832 in the OSAHS group and 6,035 in the control group. The meta-analysis shows that the incidence of hearing impairment in the OSAHS group is higher than in the control group (OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.18-1.62, Z = 4.09, P < 0.001), and the average hearing threshold of OSAHS patients is higher than that of the control group (MD = 5.89; 95% CI 1.87-9.91, Z = 2.87, P = 0.004). After stratifying the included studies according to hearing frequency, the meta-analysis shows that the OSAHS group has a higher threshold of 0.25, and the response amplitudes at frequencies 2, 4, 6, and 8 kHz are all higher than those of the control group.

Conclusion: Compared with the control group, the OSAHS group has a higher incidence of hearing loss, mainly high-frequency hearing loss. Thus, OSAHS is closely associated with and a risk factor for hearing loss.

Keywords: Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome; hearing loss (HL); incidence; meta-analysis; sleep.

Publication types

Systematic Review