Types and Severity of Hearing Loss among Patients with Tuberculosis receiving Anti-Tuberculosis Treatment in Nigeria:...

Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious and potentially fatal infectious disease with significant global morbidity and mortality. Both the disease and some anti-TB medications have been linked to hearing loss. The study objective is to determine the Types and severity of hearing loss among patients receiving anti-tuberculosis drugs at NAUTH, Nnewi, Nigeria.

This prospective cohort study, conducted over one year at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) among adults enrolled in TB patients 18-60years and healthy controls using convenient sampling. GeneXpert/AFB testing was used for TB diagnosis, and pure tone audiometry was done for all participants, with follow-up assessments at 2 and 3 months for TB patients. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA version 16.0, with significance set at p < 0.05.

A total of 196 participants, which included 98 Tb cases (80 drug sensitive TB(DSTB),18multi drug resistant TB(MDRTB), and 98 controls, with a male:female ratio of1.13:1, mean age 33.82 ± 12.22 years, with an age range of 18-60 years, were recruited. After 90 days of anti-TB treatment, 4.1% of participants developed sensorineural hearing loss, with 3 cases classified as moderate seen among the MDRTB group and 1 case as mild among the DSTB group. There was no significant difference in mean pure tone hearing thresholds between the treatment and control groups in both ears (p = 0.395).

Incidence of Bilateral demonstrable hearing loss after anti-TB drugs, which is common among MDRTB, has dropped with the introduction of all oral shorter regimens.