title: Sensorineural hearing loss--a common finding in early-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence and potential associations of hearing impairment in patients 30 to 50 years old with diabetes diagnosed before age 40 years-early-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study cohorts consisted of 46 consecutive patients with early-onset T2DM and 47 age-matched control subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. All study subjects completed clinical, serologic, and auditory assessments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients with T2DM had a mean age of 42 ± 6 years and a mean disease duration of 11 ± 6 years. Microalbuminuria was present in 26.1%, proliferative retinopathy in 26.1%, and symptomatic peripheral neuropathy in 23.9%. The prevalence of unilateral or bilateral hearing loss was significantly higher in the patients with T2DM than in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis (21.7% versus 6.4%, respectively; P = .01). Most cases of hearing loss were mild and involved high or acute tones. After multivariate analysis with adjustment for age, there was a significant association between hearing loss and hemoglobin A1c (odds ratio, 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.02 to 1.81; P = .035). In the patients with T2DM, the lengthening of the brainstem response was not significantly increased; however, the wave morphologic features were abnormal and the reproducibility was poor in both ears in 11 patients (24%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with early-onset T2DM and poor glycemic control have an increased prevalence of subclinical hearing loss and impaired auditory brainstem responses. Hearing impairment may be an underrecognized complication of diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, México City, México. israellerman@gmail.com
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lerman-Garber
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cuevas-Ramos
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valdés
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Enríquez
authors.forename: Marlette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lobato
authors.forename: Melannie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osornio
authors.forename: Ana Rosa
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Escobedo
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pascual-Ramos
authors.forename: Roopa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Anguiano
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Gómez-Pérez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000419:Albuminuria / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000503:physiopathology; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D018630:Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human