Interaction between diabetes mellitus and hypertension on hearing of elderly

Cardiometabolic diseases according to the type and degree of hearing loss in noise-exposed workers

Background

This study aimed to determine the association between cardiometabolic diseases, including metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and diabetes, and the type and degree of hearing loss in noise-exposed workers.

Methods

A total of 237,028 workers underwent air conduction pure tone audiometry in 2015 to assess their health and diagnose cardiometabolic diseases. The study defined metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and diabetes using blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Mid-frequency hearing loss was defined as ≥ 30 dB at 2,000 Hz, whereas high-frequency hearing loss was ≥ 40 dB at 4,000 Hz. The average air conduction hearing thresholds at these frequencies were used to determine hearing loss degrees.

Results

The odds ratio (OR) of combined exposure to noise and night-shift work in all cardiometabolic diseases was higher than that of noise exposure alone. The risk of cardiometabolic diseases was dose-response, with higher hearing loss causing higher ORs. The ORs of hypertension compared with the normal group were 1.147 (1.098-1.198), 1.196 (1.127-1.270), and 1.212 (1.124-1.306), and those of diabetes were 1.177 (1.119-1.239), 1.234 (1.154-1.319), and 1.346 (1.241-1.459) for mild, moderate, and moderate-severe hearing loss, respectively.

Conclusions

Workers who are exposed to noise tend to demonstrate high risks of hearing loss and cardiometabolic diseases; thus, bio-monitoring of cardiometabolic diseases, as well as auditory observation, is necessary.

Attention to elderly: perceptions and practices of the Community Health Agents in a capital of the south of Brazil

PURPOSE

To verify the perceptions and practices of Community Health Agents (CHAs) related to speech and language pathology issues, aiming at completeness of attention to the elderly.

METHODS

The present work is a transversal and descriptive study, in which questionaries made to the CHAs in the city of Florianópolis were employed. The approach consisted in analysing recommendations given by the CHAs during house attendances for Elderly Health Promotion. Guidance on aspects such as hearing impairment, dysphagia and speech disorders were embraced. The results were analysed with STATA 11.0 program.

RESULTS

187 CHAs participated in this study. 88.24% claimed that never received adequate training from a speech therapist. The great majority (84.41%) give guidance to elderly people on hearing impairment, followed by dysphagia (57.84%) and speech disorders (56.99%). Concerning the training provided by Capital Idoso Program, only 46.77% declared to receive. Furthermore, it was found an association linking the Northern Sanitary District's CHAs to a better perception over hearing impairment and a growing number of reports related to general guidance over the analysed aspects.

CONCLUSION

It becomes necessary to provide adequate orientation for CHAs, as well as training by qualified speech therapists. This tutoring represents a matter of great importance in order to achieve a more effective work along with the community.

Effects of diabetes mellitus and systemic arterial hypertension on elderly patients’ hearing

Introduction

Chronic diseases can act as an accelerating factor in the auditory system degeneration. Studies on the association between presbycusis and diabetes mellitus and systemic arterial hypertension have shown controversial conclusions.

Objective

To compare the initial audiometry (A1) with a subsequent audiometry (A2) performed after a 3 to 4-year interval in a population of elderly patients with diabetes mellitus and/or systemic arterial hypertension, to verify whether hearing loss in these groups is more accelerated when compared to controls without these clinical conditions.

Methods

100 elderly individuals participated in this study. For the auditory threshold assessment, a previous complete audiological evaluation (A1) and a new audiological evaluation (A2) performed 3–4 years after the first one was utilized. The participants were divided into four groups: 20 individuals in the diabetes mellitus group, 20 individuals in the systemic arterial hypertension group, 20 individuals in the diabetes mellitus/systemic arterial hypertension group and 40 individuals in the control group, matching them with each study group, according to age and gender. ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis statistical tests were used, with a significance level set at 0.05.

Results

When comparing the mean annual increase in the auditory thresholds of the A1 with the A2 assessment, considering each study group and its respective control, it can be observed that there was no statistically significant difference for any of the frequencies for the diabetes mellitus group; for the systemic arterial hypertension group, significant differences were observed after 4 kHz. For the diabetes mellitus and systemic arterial hypertension group, significant differences were observed at the frequencies of 500, 2 kHz, 3 kHz and 8 kHz.

Conclusion

It was observed that the systemic arterial hypertension group showed the greatest decrease in auditory thresholds in the studied segment when compared to the other groups, suggesting that among the three studied conditions, hypertension seems to have the greatest influence on hearing.

Increased risk of depression in patients with acquired sensory hearing loss: A 12-year follow-up study

Acquired sensory hearing loss (SHL) is suggested to be associated with depression. However, some studies have reported conflicting results. Our study investigated the relationship between the prevalence of SHL and the incidence of depression over 12 years of follow-up by using data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). We sought to determine the association between SHL and subsequent development of depression and discuss the pathophysiological mechanism underlying the association.Patients with SHL were identified from the NHIRD (SHL cohort). A non-SHL cohort, comprising patients without SHL frequency-matched with the SHL patients according to age group, sex, and the year of diagnosis of SHL at the ratio of 1:4, was constructed, and the incidence of depression was evaluated in both cohorts. A multivariable model was adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidity.The SHL cohort and non-SHL cohort comprised 5043 patients with SHL and 20,172 patients without SHL, respectively. The incidences density rates were 9.50 and 4.78 per 1000 person-years in the SHL cohort and non-SHL cohort, respectively. After adjustment for age, sex, and comorbidities, the risk of depression was higher in the SHL cohort than in the non-SHL cohort (hazard ratio = 1.73, 95% confidence interval = 1.49-2.00).Acquired SHL may increase the risk of subsequent depression. The results demonstrated that SHL was an independent risk factor regardless of sex, age, and comorbidities. Moreover, a strong association between hearing loss and subsequent depression among Taiwanese adults of all ages, particularly those aged ≤49 and >65 years and without using steroids for the treatment of SHL was observed. Prospective clinical and biomedical studies on the relationship between hearing loss and depression are warranted for determining the etiopathology.

Características audiológicas de pacientes com diabetes mellitus Tipo 2

RESUMO Objetivos: identificar as características audiológicas de pacientes com diabetes mellitus tipo 2. Métodos: estudo transversal, realizado em unidade de atenção secundária para diabetes em Fortaleza, de abril a julho de 2010. Amostra composta por 152 pacientes diabéticos tipo 2, independente do sexo, entre 36 e 60 anos. Realizou-se audiometria tonal liminar (ATL), emissões otoacústicas evocadas por estímulo transiente (EOAT) e emissões otoacústicas evocadas-produto de distorção (EOAPD). Resultados: associação da idade e do tempo de diagnóstico com a presença de perda auditiva, e do tempo de diagnóstico com a ausência de EOAPD. Observou-se perda auditiva sensorioneural em 63,2% dos pacientes, das quais 71,9% eram bilaterais e 75% simétricas. Aproximadamente, 50% das perdas auditivas apresentaram configuração plana. As EOAT estavam ausentes em 75% dos pacientes e as EOAPD em 78,9%. Houve ausência de emissões otoacústicas na presença de ATL normal, em média, em 32% dos pacientes à direita e 48% à esquerda. Já a presença de emissões otoacústicas na ocorrência de perda auditiva foi observada em, aproximadamente, 30% dos pacientes para EOAT e 14% para EOAPD à direita; e 25% para EOAT e 11% para EOAPD à esquerda. Conclusão: predomínio de perda auditiva sensorioneural bilateral simétrica com configuração plana, e ausência de EOAT e EOAPD. A análise da associação dos resultados da ATL e das emissões otoacústicas sugere prejuízo das células ciliadas externas da cóclea ou possível neuropatia auditiva. Tais achados justificariam o monitoramento da audição destes pacientes, bem como a realização de testes específicos para avaliação do sistema auditivo central.