Rhinology & Otology

Biography

Biography: Athapattu A M T M

Abstract

Diabetes is becoming an extremely common disease, making it a larger contributor to hearing loss. One in five adults in Sri Lanka has either diabetes or pre-diabetes and one-third of those with diabetes are undiagnosed. Patients with diabetes have been shown to have worsen hearing as compared to non-diabetic healthy individuals. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the association between Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL) and Diabetes Mellitus (DM) among patients with type-2 DM attending to Diabetes Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. A descriptive cross-sectional comparative study was carried out on 62 type-2 DM patients attending the Diabetes Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya and 62 non-diabetic healthy individuals from the non-academic staff of Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya who were between 45 to 55 years. Purposive sampling method was used to recruit the participants. An interviewer-administered questionnaire and audiological test battery including otoscopy, tympanometry and diagnostic pure tone audiometry were used for the data collection. Data was analyzed using SPSS trial version. When compared to the non-diabetics (9.7%) diabetics (75.8%) had a higher proportion of SNHL. When the duration of diabetes increased, SNHL was more prevalent in the diabetics group (70.2%). There was a significant association between the duration of diabetes and the severity of hearing loss in mid and high frequencies (p<0.05). When compared to the non-diabetic group, the diabetic group had increased proportions of auditory effects. The findings of this study have established that type-2 diabetes mellitus significantly affected the hearing levels of the participants. There is a need for screening and routine monitoring of hearing acuity of DM type-2 patients, in order to detect the hearing sensitivity changes early, offering prompt adequate management and remedial measures as appropriate.