Early Life Influences on Hearing in Adulthood : a Systematic Review and Two-Step Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis

Objectives: Adverse prenatal and early childhood development may increase susceptibility of hearing loss in adulthood. The objective was to assess whether indices of early development are associated with adult-onset hearing loss in adults ≥18 years. Design: In a systematic review and meta-analysis, four electronic databases were searched for studies reporting associations between indices of early development (birth weight and adult height) and adult-onset hearing loss in adults ≥18 years. We screened studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Authors were contacted to provide adjusted odds ratios from a logistic regression model for relationships between birth weight/adult height a…