Significant association between osteoporosis and hearing loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis

There is inconclusive evidence whether osteoporosis increases risk of hearing loss in current literature.

We conducted this meta-analysis to determine whether there is an association between hearing loss and osteoporosis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted from studies of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and LILACS. Osteoporosis was defined as having a bone mineral density with a T-score of less than -2.5 standard deviation. The outcome was hearing loss as assessed by audiometry or self-reported assessment. Random-effects model and pooled hazard ratio, risk ratio, or odds ratio of hearing loss with 95% confidence intervals were compared between normal bone mineral density and low bone mineral density or osteoporosis.

A total of 16 articles underwent full-length review. Overall, there was a statistically significant increased odds of hearing loss in the low bone mineral density or osteoporosis group with odds ratio of 1.20 (95% confidence intervals 1.01-1.42, p=0.04, I²=82%, P_{heterogeneity}=0.01). However, the study from Helzner et al. reported significantly increase odds of hearing loss in the low bone mineral density in particular area and population included femoral neck of black men 1.37 (95% confidence intervals 1.07-1.76, p=0.01) and total hip of black men 1.36 (95% confidence intervals 1.05-1.76, p=0.02).

Our study proposed the first meta-analysis that demonstrated a probable association between hearing loss and bone mineral density. Osteoporosis could be a risk factor in hearing loss and might play an important role in age-related hearing loss.