Ram Lakhan Meena1, Diviji Sonkhya2, Nishi Sonkya3, Dwarka Prasad Gupta4
OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to assess the audiological characteristics of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and to find out the association of hearing loss, if any with age, duration and metabolic control of disease.
MATERIAL & METHODS
This study assessed the hearing thresholds of 50 diabetic subjects and 50 age and sex matched healthy controls on pure tone audiometry. All the participants were also subjected to assessment of fasting and postprandial glucose levels, glycosylated haemoglobin levels, serum creatinine and presence of microalbuminuria.
RESULTS
This study found statistically significant (p<0.001) increments in pure tone audiometric thresholds in diabetic patients in comparison to the control population along with hearing loss in 58% diabetics. The hearing loss was of sensorineural type varying from mild-to-moderate grades. Age correlated positively with pure tone audiometric thresholds in diabetic subjects. The duration of diabetes affected the presence of hearing loss in diabetics, but it did not affect the severity of hearing loss in the patients. Sex and metabolic control of the disease had no association with SNHL.
CONCLUSION
The use of audiological tests to monitor diabetic patients should be considered as a routine procedure in the same way as eye fundus examination and microalbuminuria assessment are.
