Analgesic use and the risk of hearing loss in women.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective cohort study
PubMed 22933387 · doi:10.1093/aje/kws146
What was done
A prospective cohort analysis evaluated 62,261 women aged 31–48 years enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study II from 1995 to 2009 (764,247 person-years of follow-up). The authors assessed the association between self-reported frequency of aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen use and incident self-reported hearing loss (n = 10,012) using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for potential confounders.
What was found
Use of ibuprofen and acetaminophen 2 or more days per week was independently associated with an increased risk of hearing loss compared with use less than once per week, whereas aspirin use showed no association. - Ibuprofen multivariate-adjusted relative risks: - 2–3 days/week: RR = 1.13 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.19) - 4–5 days/week: RR = 1.21 (95% CI: 1.11, 1.32) - ≥6 days/week: RR = 1.24 (95% CI: 1.14, 1.35; P-trend < 0.0001) - Acetaminophen multivariate-adjusted relative risks: - 2–3 days/week: RR = 1.11 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.19) - 4–5 days/week: RR = 1.21 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.37) - ≥6 days/week: RR = 1.08 (95% CI: 0.95, 1.22; P-trend = 0.0007)
Why it matters
This study provides large-scale prospective evidence in women indicating that regular use of common analgesics such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen may be an avoidable risk factor for hearing loss.
Limits
Hearing loss and analgesic frequency were self-reported via questionnaires without objective audiometric confirmation. The abstract does not report specific medication dosages, and the cohort is restricted to female nurses, which may limit generalizability.
Cited by
- supports Regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, defined as at least twice a week, increases the risk of developing hearing loss across all age groups.