Hearing Loss Is Associated with Schizophrenia and Serious Mental Illness in a Large Health Record

Sunday, September 29, 2024

9:48 AM – 9:54 AM EDT

Location: MBCC, 231

Disclosure(s):

Lauren H. Tucker, BA:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Maeher R. Grewal, MD:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Justin S. Golub, MD, MS:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Introduction: Hearing loss’s associations with serious mental illness have been largely understudied. This study aims to investigate the associations between hearing loss (HL) and schizophrenia, and HL and serious mental illness (SMI), using a large academic electronic health record.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional epidemiologic analysis. We examined electronic health record (EHR) systems of two large, tertiary, academic medical centers. Adults ≥18 years old who underwent audiometry exams between February 2020 and May 2023 were included. The exposure was HL, defined by the pure tone average (PTA) in the better ear. The outcomes were 1) schizophrenia defined by ICD-10 code and 2) SMI defined by the presence of at least one antipsychotic medication generally specific to SMI treatment. Odds ratios were computed from logistic regressions between 1) HL and schizophrenia and 2) HL and SMI. Multivariable regressions were controlled for age, gender, cardiovascular risks, and institution.

Results: Of n = 23,448 participants, 28 had schizophrenia and 307 had SMI. The average age (SD) was 61 (18.2) years and 13,809 (58.9%) were women. Controlling for covariates, for every 10 dB worsening in hearing by PTA, the odds of schizophrenia increased by 1.27 times (95% CI = 1.03-1.51, p = 0.012) and the odds of SMI increased by 1.20 times (1.12-1.27, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: In a large electronic health record, HL is associated with both schizophrenia and SMI. Future studies should address the directionality of the association. Despite limitations in defining schizophrenia/SMI, this study highlights the usefulness of EHRs to study epidemiologic associations between HL and other disorders.

Presenting Author(s)

LT

Lauren H. Tucker, BA

Medical Student
Columbia University Valegos College of Physicians and Surgeons
New York, New York, United States

Disclosure(s):
faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Co-Author(s)

Maeher R. Grewal, MD

Resident Physician
University of Utah Health
Salt Lake City, UT, United States

Disclosure(s):
faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
AS

Alice Saperstein, PhD

Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.
TS

T. Scott Stroup, MD

New York State Psychiatric Institute, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.
AM

Alice A. Medalia, PhD

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York State Psychiatric Institute, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.

Senior Author(s)

Justin S. Golub, MD, MS

Associate Professor
Columbia University
New York, New York, United States

Disclosure(s):
faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.