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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2023; 27(03): e435-e439
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748809
Original Research

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Hearing Loss: Is There Any Correlation?

Pankaj Chauhan 
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
,
Trilok Chand Guleria 
2   Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Dr. Radhakrishnan Govt. Medical College, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India
,
Sunil Sharma 
3   Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
,
Ravinder S. Minhas
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
,
Madhuri Dadwal
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
,
Narender K. Mohindroo
1   Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
› Author Affiliations Funding The author(s) received no financial support for the research.
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Abstract

Introduction Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a breathing disorder related to sleep that has a negative effect on the behavior and health of people around the globe. Chronic hypoxemia and variations in the concentration of oxygen in the blood noticed in OSA individuals may have adverse effects on the process of auditory transduction and transmission.

Objective To assess the effect of OSA on hearing and to find out the parameters that have more influence on hearing recorded during polysomnography of patients with OSA.

Methods The present is a hospital-based, observational, analytical, cross-sectional study conducted over a period of one year. After application of the exclusion criteria, the patients were then submitted to the application of the Berlin questionnaire, as well as polysomnography, impedance, and pure tone audiometry (PTA).

Results A total of 58 individuals were studied. Age, gender, and height were comparable among cases and controls, while weight, body mass index (BMI), and neck circumference were significantly higher in cases in comparison to controls. The mean PTA was significantly higher at 10 kHz or higher frequencies in cases in comparison to controls.

Conclusion We observed that there is evidence that the auditory mechanism is affected in OSA patients. We recommend early auditory screening of OSA patients for timely diagnosis and to raise awareness about its prevention.

Keywords

sleep apnea - obstructive sleep apnea - polysomnography - audiometry


Publication History

Received: 18 December 2021

Accepted: 21 March 2022

Article published online:
24 June 2022

© 2022. Fundação Otorrinolaringologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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