A Comparative Study of Age Related Hearing Loss among Diabetic Patients

Aim:Our study aims at evaluate auditory dysfunction in patients with diabetes mellitus aged above 50 years as compared to non-diabetic patient,it’s relationshipwith the duration of diabetes and HbA1c levels and to evaluatethe central auditory pathway involvement in diabetic patients by Brainstem Evoked response audiometry(BERA). Materials And Methods: A cross sectional, comparative clinical study on 50 Diabetic and 50 Non-Diabetic patients, aged above 50 years with age and sex matched (controls) was carried out from 1 st July, 2015 to 30 th June, 2016. All patients were evaluated for hearing loss by subjecting to pure tone audiometry and BERA and blood investigations like Fasting Blood sugar, Post Prandial Sugar, HbA1c were done and recorded. Results: Sensorineural deafness was seen in 68%of the diabetics with hearing loss more towards the higher frequencies. A significant relationship between duration of the diabetes, HbA1c and hearing loss was observed. In BERA significant delay was found in the absolute latency of wave III and wave V and in the interpeak latency of wave I-III, III-V and I-V. Conclusion: Prevalence of hearing loss was found to be high in type 2 diabetic patients (68%). Increase in the prevelence of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) was seen with an increase in duration of diabetes. BERA revealed that the eight nerve transmission till the level of cochlear nucleus is not altered however there is in transmission of the auditory stimulus in the auditory pathway of diabetics at the level of brainstem and midbrain.