Prevalence of hearing loss was significantly higher for patients with diagnosis of type 2 diabetes for more than 10 years
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Nov. 18, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The risk for hearing loss is significantly higher for patients with type 2 diabetes versus controls, according to a review published in the November issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
Miguel Caballero-Borrego, M.D., Ph.D., and Ivan Andujar-Lara, M.D., from the Universitat de Barcelona in Spain, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between type 2 diabetes and hearing loss. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria.
The researchers found that in patients with type 2 diabetes, the prevalence of hearing loss ranged from 40.6 to 71.9 percent, which was significantly higher than in controls (odds ratio, 4.19). For the group with diabetes, the mean pure-tone audiometric thresholds were 3.19 dB higher, and they were higher for low frequencies and, more severely, for high frequencies (1.11 and 2.3 dB, respectively). Compared with controls, patients with moderate and severe-to-profound hearing loss had higher mean hemoglobin A1c levels (0.57 and 0.95 percent, respectively). Among patients with a diagnosis of diabetes for more than 10 years, the prevalence of hearing loss was significantly higher (odds ratio, 2.07). Patient gender had no impact.
“Hearing loss in diabetes mellitus may be a consequence of subclinical microvascular disease,” the authors write. “This fact could potentially serve as an early warning sign, suggesting that closer monitoring is necessary, as well as the adaptation of treatment plans to minimize the occurrence or progression of hearing loss.”
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