A new study adds hearing loss to the list of the negative effects of prenatal smoking to infants.
Prenatal smoking had been associated to premature birth, malnutrition, and asthma but this study to present hearing loss as another negative effect.
Michael Weitzman, lead author of the study and a professor at the New York University School of Medicine, and his colleagues analyzed the data of 964 kids with ages between 12 and 15 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2005-2006. They found out that 16 percent of these teens had mothers who had exposure to smoke during the first trimester. These teens happened to have mild hearing loss.
"Most of the mothers in this particular sample quit (smoking) in the first trimester," says Anil Lalwani, study contributor and professor and vice chairman for research at Columbia University in the report. "Even brief encounters (with tobacco smoke) have negative effects."
The teens underwent standardized audiometric testing to measure their ability to hear sounds in varying pitch and loudness, as well as serum nicotine level tests to identify whether their exposure to smoke was primarily firsthand or secondhand.
The researchers were not able to fully explain how smoking, whether firsthand or secondhand, can affect a baby’s hearing while inside the womb but they were able to identify other problems that the hearing loss may bring such as mental and behavioral issues affecting their ability to perform in school and interact with other teens. These teens were found to have lower IQ and had records of drop outs in school.
Weitzman factored in their study the possibility of constantly listening to loud music during their analysis but it still led them to the conclusion that it was really prenatal smoking that may have caused the problem even before these teens were born.
The team recommended further study to fully establish the results as it may be helpful in the improvement of health care and tobacco related research in the future. It may also encourage people to start availing preventive care, screening, and other treatments to prevent hearing loss of children while they are still young.
The study was published on JAMA Otolaryngology.
