Effect of Malnutrition on Hearing Loss in Children

Objective: To characterize the relation between protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) and hearing loss (HL) in children. Study Design: Retrospective review. Setting: Tertiary referral hospital. Patients: Children in the Audiological and Genetic Database with a diagnosis of protein-calorie malnutrition, marasmus, and/or kwashiorkor. Interventions: None. Main Outcome Measures: Prevalence, type, severity (4-tone pure-tone average, PTA), and progression of HL. Results: Of 770 children with PCM, 57.8% had HL, compared to 45.5% of children without PCM (p < 0.001). Severely malnourished children had significantly higher odds of moderate-profound HL (aOR 2.27, 95% CI 1.47-3.43), high-frequency HL (aOR 1.82, 95% CI 1.21-2.75), and sensorineural or mixed HL (aOR 1.60, 95% CI 1.05-2.41) compared to children without PCM. Severely malnourished children had significantly worse initial (35.0 dB vs 25.0 dB, p <0.001), and final median PTA (31.3 dB vs 20.0 dB, p < 0.001) compared to children without PCM. Additionally, HL in children who were moderately and severely malnourished was significantly less likely to improve (aOR 0.47, 95% CI 0.25-0.82 and aOR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.9) when compared to those without PCM. Conclusions: Given the greater prevalence and severity of hearing loss, children with PCM should be considered an at-risk group for poor audiological outcomes, and clinical practice should focus on early treatment and intervention for malnourished children. Routine audiological evaluation should be considered in this population.