Effect of HbA1c Level on Hearing Sensitivity Among Patients with Diabetic Mellitus

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) appears to be a risk factor for hearing loss. Meta-analyses of cross-sectional studies reported that diabetes had a greater risk of hearing impairment. Hearing loss and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a glycemic management biomarker, have been linked in a few studies. HbA1c and hearing impairment as measured by a pure-tone average threshold of frequencies (500 Hz, 1 kHz, and 2 kHz), while the other two found a link between HbA1c and high-frequency hearing impairment. The goal of this study is to see if the amount of HbA1c level is linked to the occurrence of hearing loss. Participants were 430 of both genders between the ages of 21 to 60 years and based on the duration of HbA1c level. Results indicated that the higher HbA1c level patient had high-frequency hearing loss when compared to speech frequencies in both ears. As the HbA1c level increases an increase in the high-frequency hearing loss was also noticed. A positive correlation exists between the duration of diabetics and high-frequency hearing loss. Moreover, when diabetic duration increases, the hearing loss is more affected in extended high frequency, high frequency followed by speech frequency among uncontrolled DM than controlled DM in both ears. These findings suggest that proper glycemic management might help avoid diabetic hearing loss.