Serum Testosterone and Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate Levels and Hearing Loss in Older Males: The Hitachi Health...

This study aimed to examine the association of serum testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels with hearing loss in older males.

Cross-sectional study.

A health care center.

This study included 1,421 males aged 60 to 69 yrs who participated in the baseline survey of the Hitachi Health Study II.

Serum testosterone and DHEAS levels were measured using chemiluminescence and chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassays, respectively.

Pure-tone audiometric testing was performed to identify hearing loss at 1 and 4 kHz.

Higher serum testosterone levels were associated with lower odds of hearing loss at 4 kHz. The OR (95% CI) of hearing loss was 0.71 (0.50, 0.999) for the highest compared with that for the lowest quartile of serum testosterone. A dose-response association was also found between serum testosterone levels and hearing loss at 4 kHz ( P for linearity = 0.01). No association was found between serum testosterone levels and hearing loss at 1 kHz (OR for the highest vs lowest quartiles of serum testosterone = 1.06). Serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels were not associated with hearing loss: the ORs (95% CI) for the highest compared with that for the lowest quartile were 1.01 (0.64, 1.61) and 0.81 (0.58, 1.14) for 1 and 4 kHz, respectively.

Our findings suggest that older males with higher serum testosterone levels were less likely to have high-frequency hearing loss.