Hearing loss assessment in patients with pediatric rheumatic disorders

Purpose: To perform audiological assessment in children and adolescents followed up at a reference outpatient clinic for autoimmune diseases, regardless of specific diagnoses. Methods: A single-blind case-control study was conducted. Participants were 48 patients with ages from 5 to 19 years and one to 151 months follow-up, categorized into three groups: 15 control individuals with pain in limbs and no autoimmune disorders, 23 individuals with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, and ten cases diagnosed with other autoimmune disorders. All subjects were submitted to clinical, otological, and audiological assessments (tympanometry, acoustic reflex, audiometry, speech audiometry, otoacoustic emissions, and auditory brainstem response test with click stimuli). Results: The group with other autoimmune disorders had a greater proportion of patients with symptoms and more altered results in the otoacoustic emission test, when compared with the control group and the group with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. In the group with other autoimmune disorders, 50% of the subjects with no symptoms presented impaired acoustic reflexes, alterations in audiometry and in otoacoustic emissions. In the audiometry, the group with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis presented more alterations in higher frequencies, and the group with other autoimmune disorders, in lower frequencies. Conclusion: Symptoms related to hearing loss and audiological alterations were more frequent in children and adolescents with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and other autoimmune disorders. The hearing alterations also occurred in patients with no symptoms, indicating the need for systematic hearing assessment for these patients in their clinical routine.