Demographic profile of diabetic subjects with hearing loss in a tertiary health care facility of Punjab

Background: The demographic profile of diabetic patients with hearing loss in the state of Punjab was analyzed. The emphasis was on the age, gender and clinical presentation in this prospective study. Methods: In this prospective study 30 patients of clinically diagnosed diabetic mellitus were randomly selected from the otology clinics of oto-rhino-laryngology services, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital Ludhiana; in a period of one and a half years 01 March 2021 to 31 August 2022. All patients were taken up audiometric evaluation (pure tone audiometry,) and correlated with the diabetic profile. Results: Maximum numbers of patients were above the age of 50 years 17 (56.7%) Male patients (21) 70% outnumbered the females (9) 70%. The selection of patients was random and irrespective of gender. Majority of patients were type II diabetic 20 (66.7%). Types I diabetic were only 10 (33.3%). The pure tone average threshold increases with increase in blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c). In type II diabetes mean pure tone average was maximum (in right ear 44.67, left ear 45.11) as compared to type I diabetes (in right ear 37.20, p=0.426, left ear 33.20, p=0.149). Conclusions: Type 1 and type 2 diabetes have been associated with hearing impairment due to hyperglycemia and oxidative stress leading to cochlear microangiopathy and auditory neuropathy. Quality of life improves in diabetic patients with control of glycemic index. Pure tone average shows high hearing threshold in higher frequencies with increase in HbA1c levels (p=0.001).