Japanese and Western diet and risk of idiopathic sudden deafness: a case-control study using pooled controls

One of the proposed aetiological mechanisms for idiopathic sudden deafness is vascular disease. However, it is not known whether traditional cardiovascular risk factors, such as particular dietary factors, are associated with this condition.

A case-control study using pooled controls was conducted in Japan to investigate the relationship between idiopathic sudden deafness and diet. An m:n matched-pairs method was used to obtain age-, gender- and residential district-matched controls from a nationwide database of pooled controls. Food intake was assessed from a self-administered usual food frequency questionnaire that asked about intake of 35 foods (including four drinks). Participants were classified according to the frequency of intake of Western foods and the frequency of intake of traditional Japanese foods. Subgroup analyses were performed using audiometric subtypes of idiopathic sudden deafness.

Data were obtained for 164 cases and 20,313 controls. An increased risk of sudden deafness was observed among participants who frequently consumed Western foods (OR = 1.82, 95% CI : 1.14--2.89), and a decreased risk of this condition was observed among participants who frequently consumed Japanese foods (OR = 0.52, 95% CI : 0.33--0.82). A direct association of sudden deafness with Western food intake was evident for flat-type hearing loss.

This study suggests that a largely Western diet might be a risk factor for idiopathic sudden deafness, a traditional Japanese diet might be a preventive factor for this condition, or both. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that vascular factors are an important cause of idiopathic sudden deafness, although the possibility of residual confounding by unmeasured confounders such as socioeconomic status cannot be ruled out.