Hearing in Children With Type I Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Background: Diabetes Mellitus has been regarded as a cause of hearing loss for many years. This study was designed to analyze the effect on the inner ear affection by diabetes mellitus in children.

Methods: Thirty type I diabetic and thirty non-diabetic children with ages ranging from 7 to 12 years old, perfectly paired regarding sex, age, cultural and social-economic status, were evaluated by pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, high frequency audiometry and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE).

Results: Diabetic children exhibited slightly elevated thresholds in pure tone audiometry at 250, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 6,000 and 8,000 Hz frequencies. No statistical difference was found between results of speech discrimination, high frequency audiometry or DPOAE.

Conclusions: Diabetic children hear slightly less than non-diabetic children, and this does not seem to be related to impaired function of outer hair cells.




J Endocrinol Metab. 2012;2(6):216-219
doi: https://doi.org/10.4021/jem144e