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Auditory Impairment in Young Type 1 Diabetics
Yanlian Hou1, Xiaoyan Xiao2, Jianmin Ren3
1Department of Endocrinology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China; Affiliated Hospital of Taishan Medical University, Taian, Shandong Province, China.
Insights
Young type 1 diabetics show hearing impairment, including elevated auditory thresholds and slower nerve conduction. Clinical factors like blood pressure and diabetes duration significantly impact their auditory function.
Area of Science:
- Otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem response in audiology.
- Diabetology and metabolic syndrome effects on sensory organs.
Background:
- Auditory impairment is an emerging concern in young individuals with type 1 diabetes.
- Understanding the link between diabetes and hearing loss is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess auditory function in young type 1 diabetics.
- To investigate correlations between clinical indicators and hearing deficits.
Main Methods:
- Auditory function tests were performed on 50 type 1 diabetics and 50 healthy controls.
- Clinical parameters including cholesterol, blood pressure, and HbA1c were measured.
Main Results:
- Type 1 diabetics exhibited significantly elevated auditory thresholds and prolonged auditory brainstem response latencies compared to controls.
- Hearing impairment correlated with HDL-cholesterol, diabetes duration, blood pressure, GHbA1c, and microalbuminuria.
- Distortion product otoacoustic emissions showed reduced responses in diabetic patients, particularly at higher frequencies.
Conclusions:
- Young type 1 diabetics experience auditory threshold elevation, delayed auditory conduction, and cochlear dysfunction.
- Factors such as HDL-cholesterol, diabetes duration, blood pressure, microalbuminuria, GHbA1c, triglyceride levels, and age are associated with auditory impairment in this population.
Background And Aims:
More attention has recently been focused on auditory impairment of young type 1 diabetics. This study aimed to evaluate auditory function of young type 1 diabetics and the correlation between clinical indexes and hearing impairment.
Methods:
We evaluated the auditory function of 50 type 1 diabetics and 50 healthy subjects. Clinical indexes were measured along with analyzing their relation of auditory function.
Results:
Type 1 diabetic patients demonstrated a deficit with elevated thresholds at right ear and left ear when compared to healthy controls (p <0.01). The elevated auditory threshold was significantly related with HDL-cholesterol, diabetes duration, and systemic blood pressure (p <0.05). Moreover, latencies of right ear (wave III, V and interwave I-V) and left ear (wave III, V and interwave I-III, I-V) in diabetic group significantly increased compared to those in control subjects (p <0.01). Auditory brainstem response was significantly related with GHbA1C and microalbuminuria (p <0.01). Furthermore, distortion product evoked otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) of diabetes group were statistically significant in right ears at 4.0, 6.0 kHz and in left ears at 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 kHz (p <0.01) compared with those of controls. Diabetic patients demonstrated lower amplitude responses of the right ear than the left ear at 8.0 kHz. Only triglyceride was positively correlated to the hearing impairment defined by DPOAE (p <0.01). There was no significance of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) between groups. TEOAE was associated with age and GHbA1C (p <0.01).
Conclusions:
Type 1 diabetics exerted higher auditory threshold, slower auditory conduction time and cochlear impairment. HDL-cholesterol, diabetes duration, systemic blood pressure, microalbuminuria, GHbA1C, triglyceride, and age may affect the auditory function of type 1 diabetics.
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