Daudi Cheche Ntunaguzi¹*, Abraham ZS², Mapondella KB¹, Kahinga AA¹ and Richard E¹

¹Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
²Department of Surgery, University of Dodoma, College of Health and Allied Sciences, Dodoma, Tanzania

*Corresponding Author: Daudi Cheche Ntunaguzi, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Received: April 30, 2021; Published: May 11, 2021

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been linked to several complications; one of them is hearing impairment which adds on decreasing quality of life of victims.

There is paucity of evidence from Africa. This study determined the magnitude and characteristics of hearing impairment in people with diabetes mellitus at Muhimbili National Hospital, Tanzania’s largest tertiary hospital.

Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive cross sectional study where 390 participants were recruited from June 2014 to January 2015. Data was analyzed using SPSS program version 20.

Results: This study included 390 participants with Diabetes Mellitus, 55.4% were females. The prevalence of hearing impairment was 23.1%, majority being bilateral (16.2%). The commonest type of hearing impairment was sensorineural hearing impairment with prevalence of 20%. Sixteen percent had mild hearing loss, and prevalence decreased as severity of hearing impairment increased. Prevalence of moderately severe and profound hearing impairment was 1.8% and 0.5% respectively. Type 2 DM contributed 68.4% of participants and among this group 26.1% had hearing impairment.

Conclusion: Hearing impairment was found to be prevalent in DM patients with higher prevalence in type 2 DM than in type 1 DM. Bilateral, mild sensorineural hearing impairment is the commonest type and it is more in elderly population. Regular hearing status assessment should be advocated.

Keywords: Prevalence; Clinical Characteristics; Diabetes Mellitus; Hearing Impairment; Muhimbili; Tanzania

References

1. Rose S. “The fundamental role of hearing in psychological development”. In Introduction to Audiology and Hearing Science”. Eds. Decker. NT Longman. New York, London (1986).
2. Report of the Informal Working Group on Prevention of Deafness and Hearing Impairment Programme Planning, Geneva (1991): 18-21 1991.
3. Deafness and Hearing Loss: WHO Fact sheet N°300 (2013).
4. Mathers C., et al. “Global burden of hearing loss in the year 2000”. Global Burden of Disease 4 (2000): 1-30.
5. Minja BM and Machemba A. “Prevalence of otitis media, hearing impairment and cerumen impaction among school children in rural and urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania”. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology1 (1996): 29-34.
6. Wedro BC and Shiel WCJ. “Anatomy of Hearing and Balance”.
7. Moore K., et al. “Clinically oriented anatomy” (2006).
8. Scott-Brown’s basic sciences; Anatomy of inner ear: Anthony; 5^th edition 1: 27-36.
9. James BS and Ballenger JJ. “Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Sixteenth Edition” (2003).
10. Drake RL., et al. “Grays Anatomy For Students” (2004).
11. International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10^th Geneva: WHO (2003): 2.
12. Swanepoel DW. “Laurent C. Open Access Guide To Audiology and Hearing Aids for Otolaryngologists. (Figure 2).
13. Bailey BJ and Johnson JT. “Head and Neck Surgery - Otolaryngology”. 4^th Edition (2006).
14. American Diabetes Association. “Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus”. Diabetes Care1 (2013): S67-74.
15. Parker P. “Diabetes and Hearing Loss”. Audiologist Practices 4 (2002): 22-23.
16. Badiu C. “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine 16^th edition”. Acta Endocrinologica 4 (2005): 499-499.
17. Singh S. “The Genetics of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Review”. Journal of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 55 (2011): 35-48.
18. Hall V., et al. “Diabetes in Sub Saharan Africa 1999-2011: Epidemiology and public health implications. a systematic review”. BMC Public Health1 (2011): 564.
19. Joshi N., et al. “Infections in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus”. The New England Journal of Medicine 25 (1999): 1906-1912.
20. Jones NS and Fowler PD. “Diabetes and hearing loss”. Clinical Otolaryngology 24 (1999): 3-8.
21. Harati Y. “Diabetic Neuropathies: Unanswered Questions”. Neurologic Clinics 25 (2007): 303-317.
22. Fukushima H and Cureoglu S. “Effects of type 2 diabetes mellitus on cochlear structure in humans”. Archives of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 132 (2006): 934-938.
23. Kariya S., et al. “Comparing the Cochlear Spiral Modiolar Artery in Type-1 and Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Human Temporal Bone Study”. Acta Medica Okayama 6 (2010): 375-383.
24. Breu F., et al. “Causes of Hearing Loss in adults”. Vasa (2008): 1-38.
25. Akinpelu OV., et al. “Is type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with alterations in hearing? A systematic review and meta-analysis”. Laryngoscope (2013): 1-10.
26. Kakarlapudi V., et al. “The effect of diabetes on sensorineural hearing loss”. Otology and Neurotology 24 (2003): 382-386.
27. Kalli K., et al. “Hearing disturbances in patients suffering from diabetes”. Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery 48 (2012): 22-24.
28. Horikawa C., et al. “Diabetes and risk of hearing impairment in adults: a meta-analysis”. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (2013): 51-58.
29. Dalton D and Cruickshanks K. “Association of NIDDM and hearing loss”. Diabetes9 (1998).
30. Pemmaiah K and Srinivas D. “Hearing loss in Diabetes Mellitus”. International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine and Public Health 10 (2011): 725-731.
31. Bainbridge KE., et al. “Diabetes and Hearing Impairment in the United States: Audiometric Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1999-2004”. Annals of Internal Medicine 1 (2010): 1-10.
32. Chamyal CPC. “Vestibulo-Cochlear Functions In Diabetes Mellitus”. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery 2 (1997): 162-164.
33. Sogebi OA. “Assessment of the risk factors for hearing loss in adult Nigerian population”. Nigerian Medical Journal 4 (2013): 244-249.
34. Agarwal MK., et al. “Otorhinolaryngological Studies in Diabetics”. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery 2 (1998).
35. Diniz TH and Guida HL. “Hearing Loss in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus”. Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology 4 (2009): 573-578.
36. Rajendran S., et al. “Evaluation of the Incidence of Sensorineural hearing loss in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus”. International Journal of Biological and Medical Research4 (2011): 982-987.
37. Malucelli D and Malucelli F. “Hearing loss prevalence in patients with diabetes mellitus type 1”. Brazilian Journal 3 (2012): 105-115.
38. Mozaffari M., et al. “Diabetes mellitus and sensorineural hearing loss among non-elderly people”. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 9 (2010): 947-952.
39. Austin DF., et al. “Diabetes-related changes in hearing”. Laryngoscope9 (2009): 1788-1796.
40. Buname G. “Prevalence of Hearing Loss Among Children With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Attending Paediatric Diabetic Clinic, Mulago Hospital (2014).
41. Zj G., et al. “Patterns of Otorhinolaryngological Disorders in Subjects with (2011): 13-16.

Citation

Citation: Daudi Cheche Ntunaguzi., et al. “Diabetes and Hearing Impairment in Tanzania; Evidence from a Diabetes Clinic at a Tertiary Hospital, Tanzania".Acta Scientific Otolaryngology 3.6 (2021): 25-30.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Daudi Cheche Ntunaguzi., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.