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. 2023 Feb 1;192(2):237-245.
doi: 10.1093/aje/kwac195.

Peripheral Neuropathy and Vision and Hearing Impairment in US Adults With and Without Diabetes

Caitlin W Hicks, Dan Wang, Frank R Lin, Nicholas Reed, B Gwen Windham, Elizabeth Selvin

Peripheral Neuropathy and Vision and Hearing Impairment in US Adults With and Without Diabetes

Caitlin W Hicks et al. Am J Epidemiol. .

Abstract

We aimed to assess the associations of peripheral neuropathy (PN) with vision and hearing impairment among adults aged ≥40 years who attended the lower-extremity disease exam for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (United States, 1999-2004). Overall, 11.8% (standard error (SE), 0.5) of adults had diabetes, 13.2% (SE, 0.5) had PN (26.6% (SE, 1.4) with diabetes, 11.4% (SE, 0.5) without diabetes), 1.6% (SE, 0.1) had vision impairment, and 15.4% (SE, 1.1) had hearing impairment. The prevalence of vision impairment was 3.89% (95% CI: 2.99, 5.05) among adults with PN and 1.29% (95% CI: 1.04, 1.60) among adults without PN (P < 0.001). After adjustment, PN was associated with vision impairment overall (odds ratio (OR) = 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03, 2.13) and among adults without diabetes (OR = 1.80, 95% CI: 1.17, 2.77) but not among adults with diabetes (P for interaction = 0.018). The prevalence of hearing impairment was 26.5% (95% CI: 20.4, 33.7) among adults with PN and 14.2% (95% CI: 12.4, 16.3) among adults without PN (P < 0.001). The association of PN with moderate/severe hearing impairment was significant overall (OR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1.40, 4.64) and among adults without diabetes (OR = 3.26, 95% CI: 1.80, 5.91). Overall, these findings suggest an association between peripheral and audiovisual sensory impairment that is unrelated to diabetes.

Keywords: diabetes; hearing impairment; peripheral neuropathy.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Crude prevalence of visual impairment overall and according to peripheral neuropathy (PN) status (A) and age-adjusted associations of peripheral neuropathy with visual acuity (B), US adults aged ≥40 years, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 1999–2004. P < 0.001 for comparing prevalence of vision impairment between no PN vs. PN for the overall population and the subpopulation without diabetes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Crude prevalence of hearing impairment overall and according to peripheral neuropathy (PN) status (A) and age-adjusted associations of peripheral neuropathy with hearing best pure tone average (B), US adults aged ≥40 years, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 1999–2004. P < 0.001 for comparing prevalence of hearing impairment between no PN vs. PN for the overall population and subpopulations with and without diabetes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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