Abstract

Background: Outer hair cells in the organ of Corti are not directly involved in deciding the threshold of the acoustic stimulus, but their damage will increase the hearing threshold and may even cause the neuronal deafness. Type 2 diabetes is increasing globally at an alarming rate; one of many complications of Type 2 diabetes is loss of hearing. In Type 2 diabetes, poor glycemic status is the cause for neuropathy or microangiopathy which may affect the normal hearing. Aims and Objectives: To observe the effect of Type 2 diabetes on the functional status of outer hair cells. To illustrate the effect of Type 2 diabetes on outer hair cells for right and left ear is same or different.
Materials and Methods: A total of 50 Type 2 diabetic subjects, aged between 30 to 55 years, both sexes were included as test group after assessing their glycemic index. 50 age and sex matched healthy individuals are also included as control group. Functioning of outer hair cells was assessed with distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs).
Results: Glycosylated hemoglobin percentage among test (8.58 ± 0.83) and control group subjects (5.28 ± 0.50) is statistically significant (<0.0001). Odds of failing the DPOAEs are 7 and 15 times higher in patients with Type 2 diabetes than those without diabetes for right and left ear, respectively. Conclusion: There is increased risk of damage to the outer hair cells in Type 2 diabetes. The risk of damage to the outer hair cells is more in the left ear than the right ear.