Relationship between hearing loss and type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a prevalent disease in Chile, in diabetes glucose dis- regulation can cause organ and system failure. Several studies have found that diabetes can also cause long-term injuries in the auditory system, causing neurosensorial hearing loss. Aim: To associate diabetes mellitus and the potential consequence of hearing loss determined by tonal audiometry. Material and method: Cross-sectional study case-control, with a N = 45 for diabetic patients and N = 53 for control subjects, between 30 to 50 years old. We excluded patients with acoustic trauma, ototoxic use or previous otologic history. A questionnaire was applied and otologic examination was done to rule out injuries. Audiometry was performed, analyzing frequencies in each ear 128, 256, 512, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, 8000 Hz and PTP. For statistical analysis we applied the nonparametric Mann Whitney test. Results: Mean age was 40.85 years old with standard deviation 6.33 for controls and 42.62 years with standard deviation of 5.97 for cases, average duration of diabetes was of 5.03 years. In the analysis of the difference in average pitch there was a higher significant deterioration (P < 0.05) in the diabetic group compared to controls in almost all frequency and PTP in both ears, except in the 256 Hz right ear. Conclusions: Patients with diabetes mellitus showed a hearing loss in tonal audiometry compared to individuals without diabetes mellitus.