Gender Based Variation in Audiometric findings in Relation with Waist Circumference

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hearing loss has been reported linked with the physical obesity. Waist circumference (WC) is one of the calculated ratios that have been proposed to be used for assessing obesity. It is stated that the WC provides clue for central obesity which is a risk factor of hearing loss. OBJECTIVE: The present study intended to determine the gender base variation in audiometric findings in relation with increased waist circumference and percentage of study population suffering from hearing loss associated with increased waist circumference. METHODS: The present Cross sectional / comparative study was conducted at Research Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro. A sample of 226 was divided into; Group A. Female (n=113) and Group B. Male (n=113). Group A and B were further divided in to A1, A2, A3 and B1, B2 and B3 according to the WC. The WC was measured by measuring tape halfway between the lower costal margin and the iliac crest. The Audiometry was performed on Audiometer MAICO® MA-39 BERLIN GERMANY at the Power Lab of Department of Physiology Pure tone Audiometry (PTA >25 Db) was considered as deafness. The data was entered and analyzed on the statistical program SPSS version 22.0. (IBM, Incorporation, USA) using Student`s t-test and Chi square test. RESULTS:. Male to female ratio was 1:1. WC in sub groups showed statistically significant differences among A1-A3 female and B1-B3 male groups (P=0.0001). Average PTA was measured as deci-Bells (dB). Taken 25 dB PTA as reference, PTA showed statistically significant differences among A1-A3 female and B1-B3 male groups (P=0.0001). The results show significant tendency of hearing loss with increasing WC particularly the high frequency sounds. CONCLUSION: The present study reports female gender and increased waist circumference as risk factors for the hearing threshold loss. The Waist circumference, a surrogate marker of body adiposity, may be exploited clinically for the prediction of hearing problems in the obese subjects.