Publication:

Evaluation of hearing loss in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background This study had been undertaken to examine the relationship between diabetes mellitus and hearing loss quite debated for many years.

Methods Hearing status in fifty patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus, aged within 50 years and duration of diabetes less than 120 months was compared to fifty ages and sex matched healthy volunteers using pure-tone audiometry, transient evoked otoacoustic emissions, and auditory brainstem responses.

Results In diabetic patients, compared to healthy subjects, the mean hearing threshold in the pure-tone audiometry was significantly higher at all frequencies, the mean amplitude of TEOAE was lower, and latency times of waves III, V and intervals I-III, III-V and I-V in ABR were longer.

Conclusions This study confirms the presence of SNHL in relatively young type 2 diabetes mellitus. The use of audiological tests to monitor hearing in diabetic patients should be considered as a routine procedure.