Risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing dialysis

Aim: The study evaluated the risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHR) in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing dialysis. Methods: We identified 18 905 patients newly diagnosed with ESRD, comprising 6382 patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 12 523 patients on hemodialysis (HD) using Taiwan's National Health Insurance claims data from 2000 to 2010. A total of 76 520 controls without kidney disease were randomly selected with frequency matched with the ESRD group by age and sex. We further established additional cohorts with 6375 patients on PD and 6375 patients on HD matched by their propensity scores. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the effect of ESRD and dialysis modality on the risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) by the end of 2011. Results: The incidences for SSHR were 0.49, 2.37, 2.95, and 2.12 per 1000 person-years in the control, ESRD (PD and HD), PD, and HD cohorts, respectively. The adjusted HRs of SSHR was 2.71, 3.60, and 2.33 for ESRD, PD, and HD groups (95% CI = 2.17–3.38, 2.71–4.78 and 1.81–2.99, respectively) compared with the control cohort. Patients on PD exhibited 1.53-fold (95% CI = 1.14–2.04) and 1.64-fold (95% CI = 1.19–2.27) higher SSHL risk than their age- and sex-matched and propensity score-matched patients on HD, respectively. Conclusion: Patients with ESRD exhibit a higher risk of SSHL than people without kidney disease. The SSHL risk is greater for patients on PD than on HD.