Assessing the impact of apnea duration on the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and hearing loss

Abstract The relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and hearing loss (HL) remains uncertain. We examined this association by retrospectively reviewing 90 patients diagnosed with OSA who underwent overnight polysomnography (PSG) and pure-tone audiometry. Patients with OSA were compared with non-OSA individuals, identified via the STOP-BANG questionnaire (SBQ) and age-sex 1:1 matching. The results indicated elevated hearing thresholds across all frequencies in the OSA group. Further categorization of patients with OSA into HL and non-HL groups revealed a significant increase in apnea duration in the HL group for all-frequency and high-frequency cases (p=0.038, 0.006). Multiple linear regression, adjusting for age and sex, revealed a significant influence of apnea duration on HL in both all-frequency and high-frequency cases (ß=0.404, p=0.002; ß=0.425, p=0.001). These findings underscore the reduced auditory function in patients with OSA and highlight the potential of apnea duration as a marker of chronic hypoxic damage linked to OSA.