One in Four with Diabetes Experiences Hearing Loss
A new systematic review indicates that one in four adults with Type 2 diabetes experiences significant hearing loss, with the risk being highest in younger adults and those in low-resource settings. Researchers suggest that audiometric screening should be integrated into standard diabetes care to address this often-overlooked complication.
Why it matters
This finding identifies a critical, under-monitored health risk for millions of diabetic patients, potentially changing clinical screening guidelines.
ONE in four adults with Type 2 diabetes experience clinically significant hearing loss, a new systematic review and meta-analysis has found. 1
This was particularly apparent in younger adults and resource-limited populations.
Retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy are commonly recognised and routinely monitored microvascular complications of diabetes.
However, authors reported, hearing impairment is a significant, yet often overlooked, sensory complication. 2
The study also follows recent findings that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist use is tied to smell and taste disturbances .
Researchers ultimately included 29 studies, totalling more than 17,000 participants, in analysis, all but one of which examined Type 2 diabetes. 1
Eleven studies found that diabetes doubled hearing loss odds against control cohorts.
Researchers estimated that approximately one in four adults with Type 2 diabetes is living with serious hearing impairment.
The link between Type 2 diabetes and hearing loss was strongest in adults younger than 60 years.
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