Association of age, gender and duration of diabetes with distortion product otoacoustic emissions in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Introduction: Screening of outer hair cells is necessary in identification of undetected hearing loss. Objectives: Present study is focused on functional analysis of outer hair cells by distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) in type 2 diabetes with and without hearing impairment. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, two groups i.e. WoHI (n=50) and WHI (n=50) of either sex with an age group of 35-55 were included. DPOAE screening is a non-invasive test protocol that assists to detect the accuracy of cochlear outer hair cell functioning and hearing at frequencies ranging from 1000Hz-4000Hz. Statistical Analysis: The data were analyzed by Chi-square test to see the association between DPOAE screening of both the ears in WoHI and WHI groups with age, gender, duration of diabetes. Results: The association of age with DPOAEs in WoHI and WHI groups, fail percentage of the right ear DPOAE in the age group 35-44 years were 11.5% and 16.6% respectively, it was not statistically significant (P=0.891). The association of gender with DPOAE screening in WoHI and WHI groups, fail percentage of the right ear DPOAE in the male group were 12% and 15% respectively and in the female group were 6.3% and 20% respectively, it was not statistically significant (P=0.435). Conclusion: OAE alone does not assess the entire auditory pathway in diabetic persons. A thorough case history including duration of disease, age of onset and frequency of HbA1C monitoring and OAE screening is a quick noninvasive clinically feasible procedure for potentially identifying or detecting hearing impairment. Keywords: Type 2 diabetes, DPOAEs, Duration of diabetes, WHI, WoHI.