Prevalence Rate of Hearing Loss in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common chronic inflammatory disorder that can be associated with some hearing impairments. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence rate of hearing loss (HL) in RA patients.

This study included 130 participants from February 2019 to March 2020 including 100 RA patients (78 females and 22 males) as RA group and 30 healthy cases (16 females and 14 males) as control group. All patients underwent pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, tympanometry, acoustic reflex, and tone decay test by single operator and device. The rate of HL and contributing factors were then determined.

The mean age of RA group was 53.95 ± 7.6 years, and the mean duration of disease was 12.74 years. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 54% of patients, and the frequency rates of diabetes, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, and dyslipidemia among RA patients were 14%, 1%, 26%, and 19%, respectively. These values among RA patients with HL were 18%, 1.7%, 34%, and 27.5%, respectively. HL in RA patients was related to dyslipidemia (P = 0.011) and age (P = 0.0001). Frequency rate of conductive HL in left and right ears was 2% and 5%, respectively, and these rates for sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) were 55% and 61%, respectively. In addition, the percent of HL in low, mid, and high frequency ranges was 18%, 19%, and 57%, respectively.

The findings of the present research demonstrate that HL especially with SNHL and high-frequency types is common among RA patients.