Evaluation of the Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Changes in auditory function have been noted in post-menopausal women attributed in part to the lower levels of ovarian hormones. Decreased levels of ovarian hormones may alter auditory neurotransmission time, as evaluated by Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABR). Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the mean inter-peak ABR latencies and post-menopausal women compared to non-menopausal women. 
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, research sample consisted of 60 women as case group in the age range of 45-55 years, who were post-menopausal and had normal hearing. The control group with similar characteristics were non-menopausal. Two groups were estimated by ABR and then the means of the variables that had a normal distribution were compared with each other by independent t-test.  
Results: All differences between two groups were not significant, as follows; Mean I-III inter-peak ABR latencies (p-value=0.714), mean III-V inter-peak ABR latencies (p-value=0.691) and mean I-V inter-peak ABR latencies (p-value=0.483). 
Conclusion: Menopause does not cause abnormal results in auditory brainstem responses.