This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Hearing loss common in diabetes

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

ADA 71st Scientific Sessions

SAN DIEGO — Age-related hearing loss occurs more frequently among patients with diabetes compared with people who do not have diabetes. Although the mechanism to explain this association remains unclear, results of a new meta-analysis demonstrate a 2.28-fold increase in the association between diabetes and hearing impairment.

Hirohito Sone, MD, PhD, professor in the department of endocrinology and metabolism, University of Tsukuba Mito medical center, and colleagues analyzed data from 13 observational studies of 8,797 hearing impairment cases and 11,264 non-hearing impairment cases. Nine studies included population-based participants and four included hospital-based participants.

Studies were identified using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and were cross-sectional in design, with an outcome of non-idiopathic progressive hearing impairment not due to noise or heredity. In all studies, hearing impairment was defined by cut-off values of pure-tone thresholds measured at a frequency range that included 2,000 Hz, and data on hearing impairment and non-hearing impairment in the presence of diabetes were presented.

The odds ratio for hearing impairment in diabetes was 2.88 (95% CI, 1.82-2.86). Additionally, in studies of patients with a mean age younger than 60 years, and those with patients in hospital settings, the researchers found a positive association between hearing impairment and diabetes (OR=2.04 and OR=3.68). In all studies, the risk for hearing impairment associated with diabetes was consistently positive.

“We found that this relationship was strongly established by this study, and hearing loss should be considered an established complication of diabetes,” Sone told Endocrine Today at the Presidents’ Poster reception. “The hearing test should be determined in all diabetic patients whenever possible.” – by Stacey L. Fisher

For more information:

• Horikawa C. 0426-PP. Presented at: American Diabetes Association’s 71st Scientific Sessions; June 24-28, 2011; San Diego, Calif.

Disclosures: Dr. Sone reports no relevant financial disclosures.

Follow EndocrineToday.com on Twitter.