Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: The pathologic changes that accompany diabetes could plausibly cause injury to the vasculature or the neural system of the inner ear resulting in sensorineural hearing impairment. Hence; we planned the present study to assess hearing loss among diabetic patients. Materials & methods: A total of 50 patients with presence of type 2 diabetes and 50 healthy controls were enrolled in the present study. Recording of pure-tone hearing (in decibels [dB]) and other biochemical values was also done. Value of average pure-tone audiometry threshold of the worse ear more than 25 dB was categorized as presence of hearing impairment. Determination of the pure tone audiogram was done. All the results were recorded and analysed by SPSS software. Results: Mean age of the subjects of the diabetic group and the control group was 44.5 and 47.6 years respectively. There were 29 males and 21 females in the diabetic group, and 25 males and 25 females in the control group. Hearing loss was present in 34 diabetic patients and 15 healthy controls. Conclusion: Diabetic patients are significantly affected by hearing loss in comparison to the healthy population. Key words: Diabetic, Hearing loss