My question is, a lot of the people who take these medications have conditions like diabetes and artery disease. Are men with erectile dysfunction more likely to have hearing loss anyway? That is, an association between hearing loss and Viagra use doesn't mean that Viagra causes the hearing loss. However, the fact that they didn't see an association with Cialis or Levitra is concerning.
This is the article:
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010 May;136(5):488-92.
Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor use and hearing impairment.
McGwin G Jr.
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
[email protected]Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare use of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) between participants with and without self-reported hearing impairment using logistic regression, with and without adjustment for potentially confounding sociodemographic, behavioral, and health-related characteristics. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: United States. PATIENTS: A population-based sample of 11 525 men 40 years or older (248,217,013 weighted men) in the United States, selected from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2003-2006). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Self-reported hearing impairment. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of self-reported hearing impairment and PDE-5i use in each group was 17.9% and 2%, respectively. Men who reported hearing impairment were more likely to have also reported the use of any PDE-5i (odds ratio [OR], 2.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.36-3.66). However, this association was limited to sildenafil (Viagra) (OR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.23-3.43); no significant associations were observed for tadalafil (Cialis) or vardenafil (Levitra) (ORs, 1.40 [95% CI, 0.49-4.04] and 0.88 [95% CI, 0.35-2.22], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Current warnings regarding the risk of hearing loss related to PDE-5i use seems to be justified. However, the cross-sectional nature of the current study provides only limited insight regarding this relationship, and thus additional research is warranted.