Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Auditory Dysfunctions in Older Subjects

Objective. Determine the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and auditory dysfunction in older subjects. Study Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Hospital volunteer helpers undergoing questionnaire, morphometry measurement, auditory examinations, and polysomnography between 2008 and 2009. Subjects and Methods. In total, 224 subjects older than 50 years were randomly sampled for above evaluation and testing. The effects of OSA on the peripheral auditory function, represented by averaged pure-tone threshold of low frequencies (PTA-low) and high frequencies (PTA-high), and central auditory function, shown by pitch pattern sequence (PPS scores), were analyzed. Results. The mean +/- SD age was 61.2 +/- 6.7 years. OSA was confirmed in 6 of 98 women (6.1%) and 28 of 126 men (22.2%). After adjusting for age, gender, and other variables, OSA did not show a significant positive association with PTA-low or PTA-high for all subjects. Conversely, there was a significant negative association between OSA and PPS scores for all subjects, even after adjusting for age, gender, and other variables. When OSA and central obesity together were taken into account in the multivariate linear regression analysis, OSA still showed significant association with PPS score for all subjects. Conclusion. OSA is independently associated with poorer central auditory function in older subjects.