Objective: The literature reports a high prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss ranging from 54-67.5% among patients with diabetes mellitus. The inconsistency in literature reveals the need for further study. Our objective is to evaluate the relationship between diabetes and hearing loss.
Study Design: We utilize the TriNetX global health research network, a database with real-time access to millions of electronic medical records.
Setting: Database
Patients: Adult patients from 2015 to 2020 in the United States, aged ≥18 presenting with and without diabetes
Interventions: N/A
Main Outcome Measures: Likelihood of hearing loss
Results: 939,238 were included in the analysis. After matching sensorineural hearing loss was found in 1,438 diabetic patients (.307%) and 657 in our control group (.14%). The odds of having hearing loss were found to be 2.2 [95% CI (1.99, 2.40)] times higher in patients with diabetes compared to their non-diabetic counterparts. DM patients had significantly higher proportion of minorities, including Asians (3.789% vs 2.563%, P<.001), American Indians (0.545% vs 0.347%, P<.001), Native Hawaiians (0.225% vs 0.11%, P<.001), Hispanics (10.582% vs 5.847%, P <.001), and non-Hispanics (64.27% vs 58.80%, P<.001).
Conclusions: Our study of the TriNetX database in the last five years suggests a relationship between diabetes and sensorineural hearing loss. We believe this study is among the first to corroborate this finding in a large sample size. Further research is needed to investigate the mechanism of these complications and the vulnerability of population groups.
*Professional Practice Gap & Educational Need: Understand the risk factors of hearing loss.
*Learning Objective: Understand the association between diabetes and hearing loss.
*Desired Result:Heightened awareness of the association between diabetes and hearing loss.