Gout and hearing impairment in the elderly: a retrospective cohort study using the US Medicare claims data.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To evaluate whether gout is associated with a higher risk of hearing loss in older adults.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

USA.

Participants

5% random sample of US Medicare claims 2006-2012, representative of US adults aged 65 years or older.

Primary and secondary outcomes

Incident (new) hearing loss identified by the presence of at least two claims at least 4 weeks apart with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, 389.xx, with no respective claim in the baseline 1-year observation period.

Results

Among the 1.71 million eligible people, 89 409 developed incident hearing impairment. The crude incidence rates of incident hearing impairment in people with versus without gout were 16.9 vs. 8.7 per 1000 perso

SUBMITTER: Singh JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6104764 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature