Systolic Blood Pressure and Objective Hearing Thresholds Among Japanese Middle-Aged Adults: A Facility-Based Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Introduction Very few studies have compared the magnitude of the changes in the hearing thresholds at 1 and 4 kHz according to the systolic blood pressure (SBP). We investigated the effects of SBP on repeated measures of hearing threshold using pure-tone audiometry. Methods This retrospective cohort study included 5,479 (for the analysis at 1 kHz) and 2,045 (for 4 kHz) individuals aged 50 to 59 years who underwent facility-based health checkups. A multivariable generalized linear mixed model was constructed for the analysis at 1 and 4 kHz. Results The mean follow-up durations were 30,262 and 7,454 person-years, respectively. The interaction of SBP and year was significantly associated with the change in hearing threshold in both analyses at 1 kHz (with estimated slope, 0.00080; 95% confidence interval, 0.00049–0.00110) and 4 kHz (with estimated slope, 0.0042; 95% confidence interval, 0.0028–0.0057). The 10-year changes in hearing threshold with baseline SBP of 110 and 140 mm Hg were 0.4 and 0.6 dB at 1 kHz and 1.0 and 2.3 dB at 4 kHz, respectively. Conclusions Higher SBP was associated with an increased hearing threshold at both 1 and 4 kHz among middle-aged individuals.