Evaluation of the prevalence of inner ear damage manifestation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Al Ramadi city

BackgroundDM is considered a common medical health problem and its association with inner ear damage is not well understood. Hearing loss and tinnitus are the two most complaints of inner ear damage which focused on in this study. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of hearing loss and tinnitus among diabetic patients in al-Ramadi city. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study carried out between January 2019 and December 2019 in which the patients were grouped according to their age, gender, duration of DM and the type of medication given. Assessment of the patients was done by clinical examination including otoscopy and audiological study by pure tone audiometry. Result: inner ear manifestation among 200 patients revealed that about 52 % of patients complaining of sensory neural hearing loss and about 32 % complaining of tinnitus. The duration of disease and the strict glycemic control seem to have an important effect on hearing while tinnitus may require further study due to the vague nature of the complaint. Conclusion: those patients with DM and on insulin therapy looks better doing in hearing and tinnitus complaining than those on oral hypoglycemic agents and diet control. Also, it seems to be necessary for diabetic patients to attend ENT clinic to check their hearing as part of their regular follow up.