Association between Leucocyte Telomere Length and Risk of Hearing Loss in the General Population: A Case-Control Study in Zhejiang Province, China

Huai Zhang, Dahui Wang, Haiyan Ma, Chenhui Li, Shichang Wang, Yi Wang, Lei Yang and Liangwen Xu
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Huai Zhang: The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Dahui Wang: The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Haiyan Ma: The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Chenhui Li: The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Shichang Wang: The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Yi Wang: The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Lei Yang: The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Liangwen Xu: The Medical School, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-10

Abstract: Limited studies have assessed the relation between telomere length and risk of hearing loss; moreover, they have reported equivocal associations. In the first case-control study, the subjects were chosen from the general population of Zhejiang province in order to assess the association between leucocyte telomere length and risk of hearing loss from 2016 to 2018. A total of 817 cases (55.93 ± 8.99 years) and 817 age-, sex- and residential city-matched controls (55.91 ± 9.03 years) were included for analysis. In the multivariable models, individuals in the top quartile of relative telomere length (RTL) had an odds ratio (OR) for hearing loss of 0.53 (95% confidence intervals [CI], 0.38–0.74) compared to those in the bottom quartile, and specifically, the OR was 0.45 (95% CI, 0.28–0.73) in females. In females, the risk of hearing loss decreased by 46% as RTL doubling increased; the standard deviation of RTL was associated with a 29% decrease in hearing loss risk. Additional analysis showed significant difference between participants in the female mild hearing loss group and corresponding controls. These results suggest that telomere length is associated with hearing loss in the general population, particularly in females with mild hearing loss. Telomere length might be a potential predictive biomarker of hearing loss at early stage.

Keywords: hearing loss; relative telomere length; case-control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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