ArticleThe Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy2021
Macrolide-associated ototoxicity: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study to assess the association of macrolide use with tinnitus and hearing loss.
Article in The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Increased risk of hearing loss associated with macrolide use: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Clinical Characteristics and Management of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Skin and Soft Tissue Infections: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Tackling Neutrophilic Inflammation in Bronchiectasis: From Macrolides to Cathepsin C Inhibitors.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Review
- Optimizing COPD Care in Belgium: A Multidisciplinary Expert Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Risk Management.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2026Article
- Gut Resistome and Hearing Loss in Young Adults: A Preliminary Study on the Interplay Between Microbial Resistance and Auditory Health.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Effect of Antibiotics on the Nervous System: Importance for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Breaking boundaries: the advancements in transdermal delivery of antibiotics.Drug delivery · 2024Review
- Shifting the antibiotic rhetoric in children from 'just in case' to 'disclose the risk': Has the time come?Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2024Article
- Case Report: Omadacycline in the treatment of macrolide-unresponsiveFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
- Antibiotics and the Nervous System-Which Face of Antibiotic Therapy Is Real, Dr. Jekyll (Neurotoxicity) or Mr. Hyde (Neuroprotection)?Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMacrolides are widely prescribed antibiotics for many different indications. However, there are concerns about adverse effects such as ototoxicity.
objectivesTo investigate whether macrolide use is associated with tinnitus and hearing loss in the general population.
methodsCross-sectional (n = 4286) and longitudinal (n = 636) analyses were performed within the population-based Rotterdam Study. We investigated with multivariable logistic regression models the association between macrolides and tinnitus, and with multivariable linear regression models the association between macrolides and two different hearing thresholds (both ears, averaged over 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 kHz and 2, 4 and 8 kHz). Both regression models were adjusted for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, alcohol, smoking, BMI, diabetes, education level, estimated glomerular filtration rate and other ototoxic or tinnitus-generating drugs. Cumulative exposure to macrolides was categorized according to the number of dispensed DDDs and duration of action.
resultsIn the fully adjusted model, ever use of macrolides was associated with a 25% higher likelihood of prevalent tinnitus (OR = 1.25; 95% CI 1.07-1.46). This association was more prominent in participants with a cumulative dose of more than 14 DDDs and among users of intermediate- or long-acting macrolides. Macrolide use in between both assessments was associated with more than a 2-fold increased risk on incident tinnitus. No general association between macrolides and hearing loss was observed. A borderline significant higher hearing threshold in very recent users (≤3 weeks) was found.
conclusionsMacrolide use was significantly associated with both prevalent and incident tinnitus. Macrolide-associated tinnitus was likely cumulative dose-dependent.
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