Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes Mellitus
Name
Institution

Diabetes Mellitus
Reference:  Joshi, K. D., Galagali, J. R. & Singh, S. K. (2017). A study on effects of diabetes mellitus on auditory system. Romanian Journal of Diabetes Nutrition & Metabolic Diseases 24(1), 49-55. DOI: 10.1515/rjdnmd-2017-0006
Summary:  This article presents the results of a study to determine the link between diabetes and auditory dysfunction. In fact, it intended to evaluate the importance of audiological investigation and clinical examination as sensitive indicators of auditory dysfunction in persons with diabetes. The study was galvanized by the fact that although diabetics report auditory dysfunctions, identifying them is a problematic issue. The concern is that routine audiological tests and clinical tools are yet to facilitate early detection of auditory complications resultant from diabetes. To collect primary data, the study applied a descriptive approach that recruited 200 participants who included 100 non-diabetics and 100 diabetics. The participants were then subjected to clinical ontological exams that included pure tone and free-field hearing audiometry. The collected primary data was then subjected to statistical analysis that determined the correlation between age, diabetes and auditory dysfunction with a 10% error margin. The results determined that free field hearing progressively declined with age and duration of diabetes illness. In addition, age was a factor in pure tone thresholds for diabetics.

Overall, hearing loss resultant from diabetes was easier to distinguish at a young age, but become indistinguishable at older ages since age is also a factor of hearing loss. Based on the study results, it was determined that diabetes is a cause of auditory dysfunction. Though the auditory dysfunction is not detectable at the early stages of diabetes, pure tone audiometry and clinical tests can monitor hearing loss for diabetics. In this respect, audiological investigation and clinical examination can act as sensitive indicators of auditory dysfunction in persons with diabetes.
Clinical Application:  This article illustrates the need for clinicians to subject diabetics to audiological investigation and clinical examination as sensitive indicators for hearing loss. This is to monitor auditory loss incidence and progression over cause of the disease.
URL:  https://content.sciendo.com/downloadpdf/journals/rjdnmd/24/1/article-p49.pdf