Paper Information

Nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999 to 2012 and 2015 to 2018 cycles.

To examine the association between the body roundness index (BRI), a novel anthropometric measure of central obesity, and hearing loss in US adults.

A total of 5143 adults aged ≥20 years with complete audiometric and anthropometric data were included. BRI was calculated from waist circumference and height. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average threshold ≥20 dB in the better ear across 0.5 to 4 kHz. Multivariable logistic regression models assessed the association between BRI and hearing loss, adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical covariates. Restricted cubic spline analysis was used to explore non-linear trends.

Cross-sectional study.

Among the 5143 participants (mean [SD] age, 47.9 [17.2] years; 50.2% male; mean [SD] BRI, 5.4 [2.3]), higher BRI was associated with an increased risk of hearing loss. In fully adjusted models, participants in the highest BRI quartile had an odds ratio (OR) of 1.49 (95% CI, 0.99-2.26; P = .008) compared to those in the lowest quartile. When BRI was treated as a continuous variable, each 1-SD increase in BRI was associated with an OR of 1.08 (95% CI, 1.02-1.15; P = .008) for hearing loss.

Higher BRI is independently associated with an increased risk of hearing loss among US adults. These findings highlight a potential link between obesity and auditory health and suggest that BRI may aid in identifying individuals at higher risk for hearing impairment.