Does Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Have Negative Effects on Hearing?

Introduction: The our aim was to research the occurrence of hearing loss associated with the effect of hypoxemia on inner ear structures owing to sleep apnea syndrome and to designate the timely signs of cochlear injury.

Materials and methods: Participants diagnosed with probable sleep-disordered breathing among 63 patients, who experienced polysomnographic examination, were unexcluded in the present study. Control and study groups were structured in four groups pursuant to the apnea-hypopnea index and an intergroup comparison of audiometric parameters was performed. Accordingly, the apnea-hypopnea index, speech discrimination scores, speech recognition thresholds, and pure tone thresholds were compared.

Results: A comparison of the obstructive sleep apnea groups by the degree of hearing loss indicated that there were significant differences by the average pure tone audiometry, average speech recognition thresholds, and average speech discrimination scores in both ears between the four groups (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The results of the study proposed that intermittent hypoxemia due to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome might have adverse effects on both the speech discrimination and hearing.