A Study on Prevalence of Hearing Loss as a Complication of Diabetes

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the hearing loss prevalence in association with diabetes & correlate it with age and duration of diabetes. This study was done in outpatient and inpatient department of ENT & endocrinology department in PSG Institute of Medical Science and Research, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, from July 2012 -2014. Evaluation of 200 patients with otoscopic examination of canal and tympanic membrane status, worked up  with PTA .Audiogram was analyzed for hearing loss &classified by WHO criteria found that 72 % individuals with diabetes were noted to have mild SNHL ,20 %  with moderate SNHL,3% moderate severe SNHL, 4 % severe  ,1% with profound hearing loss .In our study we concluded that after analyzing audiogram of diabetic patient ,they are more prone to develop mild to moderate SNHL and duration of diabetes and gender were found to have no effect on incidence of hearing loss.