ORIGINAL ARTICLES Pure Tone Audiometry and Otoacoustic Emission Evaluation of Hearing Loss in Diabetic Patients in a Selected Urban Population of South-West Nigeria

West Afr J Med . 2023 Jun 29;40(6):623-629.

Abstract

Abstract  in English, French

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a clinical condition which is characterized by persistent hyperglycemia resulting from insulin deficiency and/or insulin resistance. The spectrum of hearing impairments among patients with diabetes is wide with majority of the hearing problems not specific to patients with DM. The current study is aimed to evaluate the hearing loss in Diabetic Mellitus patients in a selected urban population of south-west Nigeria using pure tone audiometry and otoacousticemission evaluation. It will correlate the audiological findings with factors such as age, gender, glycemic status, and duration of DM.

Methods: A cross sectional progressive study was carried out from January 2021 to December 2021 on randomly selected 95 consecutive diabetic patients visiting the departments of Otorhinolaryngoloy and Medicine.

Results: A total of 95 DM patients attending the ENT clinics of the hospital consented and participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 43 to 82 years and had a mean of 65.3 ± 8.4 years. Majority of the patients were females (73.7%); femaleto- male ratio was approximately 3:1. About half of them were already retired (49.5%) while more than half had at least a tertiary level of education (53.7%).8.4% were reported to have discharge from their ears, 24.2% had itchy sensations and 5.3% had recurrent nasal discharge. The prevalence of hyperglycemia was 36.8% in the subjects; while another 5.3% were hypoglycemic.

Conclusion: Hearing impairment is significantly associated with the DM and other risk factors in DM patients including older age, occupation, poor glycemic controls, undue noise and alcohol consumption.

Keywords: Audiometry; Diabetic Mellitus; Hearingloss; Otoacoustic emission.

S K Aremu ¹, G O Ajani ², S A Atolani ³, O B Fawole ⁴