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Hearing threshold in patients with diabetes mellitus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

M. Kurien
Affiliation:
Lecturer, Department of Otorhinolaryngology; Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore-632004, Tamil Nadu
K. Thomas
Affiliation:
Reader, Medicine II Unit; Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore-632004, Tamil Nadu
T. S. Bhanu
Affiliation:
Professor and Head of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore-632004, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Hearing threshold of 30 diabetic patients and 30 healthy controls attending the medical outpatient department were determined using pure tone audiometry (Arphi Digital 900). All subjects were less than 50 years old. Subjects with otological and other metabolic diseases were excluded from the study. The patients were categorized into groups according to age, duration of disease, complications and control of diabetes. These observations were compared with those from the control subjects using appropriate statistical methods.

It was found that diabetics had a poorer hearing threshold than the non-diabetics; all age groups with diabetes showed a significant high frequency hearing loss, as compared to the control population; poorly controlled and complicated diabetics have significant, high frequency hearing loss as compared to those who were well controlled and uncomplicated; there was no relationship between duration of the diabetes and the level of hearing loss.

Type
Main Articles
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1989

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