Increased long-term risk of hearing loss in patients with traumatic brain injury: A nationwide population-based study

Objectives/Hypothesis

We investigated incidences of hearing loss among patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to evaluate whether they had a higher risk of hearing loss than the general population.

Study Design

Cohort study.

Methods

Inpatient data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2010 were recorded. Patients with TBI and a retrospective comparison cohort were analyzed. Each subject was individually traced from their index date to identify subjects who subsequently received a diagnosis of hearing loss. Cox regression analyses were applied to determine the risk of TBI-related hearing loss.

Results

Follow-up data from the TBI and comparison cohorts were collected over 10 years for 553,286 and 1,106,572 patients, respectively. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that TBI significantly increased the risk of hearing loss (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.125, 95% confidence interval = 2.045-2.546, P = .027). In our subgroup analyses by type of injury, patients with TBI due to traffic injury had the highest associated risk of hearing loss compared with the risk of non-TBI traffic injury patients, followed by patients with crushing/cutting/piercing injuries and falls.

Conclusions

Our study shows that TBI led to a higher risk of long-term hearing loss. Traffic injuries were the most common injury related to hearing loss. Prevention, rather than treatment, may be the best policy for preventing hearing loss.

Level of Evidence

2b Laryngoscope, 2017

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