ABS TRACT Objective: Women's' daily lives may be affected during pregnancy.To ensure that this issue is not overlooked, hearing tests should be included in routine pregnancy check-ups at certain stages.This study aimed to investigate the effects of hormonal changes occurring during the 1st, 2 nd , and 3 rd trimesters of pregnancy on the middle and inner ear auditory system.Material and Methods: A total of 43 pregnant and 27 healthy nonpregnant women were included in the study.After an otorhinolaryngology examination, all participants underwent pure tone audiometry between 125-8,000 Hz, acoustic immitance, and Transient Evoked-Otoacoustic Emission (TE-OAE) testing at 1,000-4,000 Hz.Results: In pure tone audiometry evaluations, bilateral hearing thresholds at 125, 250, and 500 Hz were found to be elevated in pregnant women across all trimesters compared with healthy controls.Additionally, the TE-OAE amplitude values decreased at 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 Hz from the 1 st to the 3 rd trimester.This slight increase in low-frequency hearing thresholds resembles cochlear hearing loss and may be attributed to hormonal changes during pregnancy.Furthermore, the otoacoustic emission values at 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 Hz were lower in pregnant women than in healthy women.Conclusion: On the basis of these results, normal findings regarding middle ear functions during pregnancy were observed, while physiological changes were noted in cochlear functions.
TÜRE et al. (2026) studied this question.