Chronic kidney disease is associated with increased risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss and Meniere's disease: a nationwide cohort study

Several studies have demonstrated the harmful effects of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on the audiovestibular system. Through a time-to-event analysis, we aimed to compare the association of CKD with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), and Meniere's disease against a control population without CKD. We used a total of 1,025,340 patients from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database from 2002 to 2013. The CKD group (n = 2572) included patients diagnosed with CKD more than three times between January 2003 and December 2005. The non-CKD group (n = 5144) consisted of two patients without CKD for every patient with CKD. Each patient was monitored until December 2013. We calculated the incidence, survival rate, and hazards ratio (HR) of SSNHL and Meniere's disease. In the CKD group, the incidence of SSNHL and Meniere's disease was 1.39 and 3.64 per 1000 person-years, respectively. Patients with CKD showed an adjusted HR of 2.15 and 1.45 for SSNHL and Meniere's disease, respectively. Middle-aged patients with CKD were associated with a higher incidence of developing SSNHL and Meniere's disease than those without CKD. Female patients with CKD had a higher risk of developing SSNHL; however, there was no significant difference in the risk of Meniere's disease in patients with CKD according to sex. Our findings suggest that CKD is associated with an increased incidence of SSNHL and Meniere's disease. Therefore, audiovestibular surveillance should be considered in patients with CKD.