Evaluation of Hearing Loss in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

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.