IMR Press / CEOG / Volume 46 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.12891/ceog4619.2019

Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology (CEOG) is published by IMR Press from Volume 47 Issue 1 (2020). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with S.O.G.

Open Access Original Research
Does maternal age at childbirth and parity have any effect on hearing loss? The 2008-2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
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1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan, Korea
2 Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
3 Department of Medical Biostatistics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
*Correspondence: khpent@catholic.ac.kr (KYOUNG HO PARK)
Contributed equally.
Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2019, 46(3), 383–386; https://doi.org/10.12891/ceog4619.2019
Published: 10 June 2019
Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess hearing loss according to maternal age at childbirth and parity. Materials and Methods: The data used in this study were obtained from the 2008-2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This study included a total of 3,961 females that were subdivided into groups of unilateral and bilateral hearing loss. Pure tone threshold above 40 dB was defined as hearing loss. T-tests or Chi-squared tests were performed to identify differences in baseline clinical characteristics. A multivariate regression and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to identify associations between childbearing age and hearing loss. Result: Bilateral hearing loss was significantly higher in women with younger age at first birth and older age at last birth. Bilateral hearing loss patients had higher parity than unilateral hearing loss patients, and unilateral hearing loss patients had higher parity than normal hearing group. Age at first childbirth showed a positive relationship with hearing loss after adjusting for lifestyle factors. Age at last childbirth also showed a positive relationship with hearing loss after adjusting for life style factors. Parity showed a positive relationship with hearing loss after adjusting for life style factors. Conclusion: This study suggests that hearing loss is increased in females who experienced their first childbirth at a younger age or their last childbirth at a later age. Bilateral and unilateral hearing loss also have positive correlation with higher parity. Some studies suggest that estrogen has a protective effect on hearing function. Because childbearing age and parity could be related to the women’s estrogen level, future studies will be access the relationship between childbearing age and hearing loss, or the relationship between parity and hearing loss due to an effect of estrogen.

Keywords
Parity
Maternal age
Childbirth
Hearing loss
Figures
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