Descriptive Epidemiological Assessment of Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors with Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Patients with Systemic Hypertension

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Abstract (English)

Abstract
Aim: The aim of the present study was to find the prevalence and risk factors associated with sensorineural hearing
loss in patients with systemic hypertension.
Material & Methods: A retrospective study conducted during the period of 18 months aimed at finding out the
prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss and the risk factors related to hearing impairment among systemic
hypertensives in Department of ENT, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Patna, Bihar, India from May 2021
to December 2022. 100 patients attending the outpatient Department of ENT, Nalanda Medical College and
Hospital, Patna, Bihar, India meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited for the study.
Results: Maximum participants were in the 56-60 age group (47%). Female participants predominated in our
study (66%). When right ear and left ear were studied separately, 35 patients (35%) had sensorineural hearing loss
in the right ear, whereas 33 patients (33%) had sensorineural hearing loss in left ear. When hearing thresholds at
individual frequencies were noted, in the right ear 42 patients (42%) had hearing loss at 250 Hz, 34 patients (34%)
had hearing loss at 500 Hz. Similarly, in the left ear, 37 patients (37%) had hearing loss at 250 Hz, 33 patients
(33%) had hearing loss at 500 Hz. The patients in 55-60 age group had a higher incidence of hearing loss when
compared to the remaining study population. In our study we found that increasing age is a risk factor for
sensorineural hearing loss in hypertensives. We studied whether duration of hypertension has any bearing on the
development of sensorineural hearing loss and found out that patients with more than 10 years duration of
hypertension had the highest prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss.
Conclusion: Sensorineural hearing loss has a high prevalence among patients with systemic hypertension. Hence,
a pure tone audiometry should be done routinely in all hypertensives, particularly in elderly patients with long
standing systemic hypertension. Periodic audiological assessment should be incorporated in them to start
rehabilitation as early as possible. Early diagnosis of systemic hypertension in the community and initiation of
treatment can help to further hinder the progression of microvascular disease that leads to target organ damage.