Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Hearing Loss Among a Cohort of Emergency Responders

Details

• Journal Article:
  Sleep and Breathing
• Personal Author:
  Appel, David W. ; Goldfarb, David G. ; Zeig-Owens, Rachel ; Choi, Jaeun ; Flamme, Gregory A. ; Liu, Yang ; Schwartz, Theresa M. ; Prezant, David J.
• Description:
  Purpose: We sought to determine whether risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and OSA severity are associated with sensorineural hearing loss (HL) among emergency responders. Methods: We evaluated two independent variables: OSA risk, categorized using Berlin Questionnaire criteria, and OSA severity, determined by polysomnogram (PSG) apnea-hypopnea indices (AHI). Logistic regression, adjusted for confounders, was used to assess the association between each OSA exposure and the outcome of HL among a cohort of emergency responders. Results: The study cohort included 13,909 participants with audiometric data, 12,834 with Berlin Questionnaire data, and 4,024 participants with PSG data. Those with high and very high OSA risk showed significantly elevated odds of HL at speech frequencies, with adjusted odds ratios (OR) of 1.34 (95% CI: 1.14-1.58; p < 0.01) and 1.56 (95% CI: 1.30-1.88; p < 0.01), respectively, compared to those with no OSA risk. Combining very high and high risk validated category groupings for the Berlin, those individuals had 41% higher odds for HL over speech frequencies compared to those with no risk (OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.21-1.65; p < 0.01). Those with PSG-determined severe OSA had higher adjusted odds of HL at speech frequencies than those with no OSA; OR of 1.33 (95% CI: 1.00-1.78; p = 0.04). Conclusions: We report a significant association between OSA and HL among emergency responders. Our results underscore a need for an analysis of the longitudinal association between OSA and HL to identify potential causality and for integrated health interventions that target both conditions in this responder population.
• Subjects:
  Hearing Loss Occupational Health Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks Sleep Apnea Syndromes Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Berlin Questionnaire; Obstructive Sleep Apnea; Polysomnogram; Audiometry Sleep Apnea; Breathing; Hearing Loss; Emergency Responders; Cohort Studies; Questionnaires; Audiometry; World Trade Center; WTC; Airway Obstruction;
• Source:
  Sleep Breath 2025 May; 29(2):177
• ISSN:
  1520-9512
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; Ohio ; Chicago Region [OSHA] ; New York City Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9 pdf pages
• Volume:
  29
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071320
• Contact Point Address:
  David G. Goldfarb, The Bureau of Health Services and the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program, Fire Department of the City of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
• Email:
  David.goldfarb@fdny.nyc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Health & Hospitals
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20220927
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c65a877bf1f1efb10a663f100117cc267d0254472b84f50f28eb4cc21726838d37e9a0bd1ef7f6dfaa1155a8cd40a0b0dc44408c8254876b2308173f0022c6aa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/258796/cdc_258796_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 978.38 KB ]