Hearing loss and diabetes in a United Arab Emirates population: a prospective controlled study

ABSTRACT

This study aims to answer a question of whether hearing loss is associated with diabetes in a UAE population in Fujairah. Strict exclusion criteria were applied to eliminate other causes of hearing loss that may interfere with assessment. Thirty-nine patients were included in the study. These were compared to 39 normal controls who were age, sex and race matched on a 11 basis. The two groups were balanced as far as possible regarding social class. All subjects underwent an ENT examination and had a pure tone audiogram performed. The mean hearing thresholds were calculated for both groups at various speech frequencies [500-4000 Hz]. Statistical analysis using non-pairedt-test revealed no significant difference between cases and controls regarding mean hearing thresholds. We conclude from our study that hearing loss may be associated with diabetes in the population studied in Fujairah