Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients - A Major Concern

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is becoming a major health concern due to its increasing incidence among adults. There are few studies that suggest the possible relation between hearing loss and chronic kidney disease. So far only a small number of large population - based studies have assessed the relation between CKD and hearing loss. The global prevalence of CKD was 9.1 % (697.5 million cases) in 2017. The age and sex wise global prevalence of CKD was higher in women (9.5 %) than in men (7.3 %). In India, prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is around 28 % to 77 % among CKD patients. Studies found that the incidence was 77 % for mild to very mild hearing loss and the incidence was 46 % for moderate to severe hearing loss. Various theories behind SNHL in CKD patients are structural similarity between ear and kidney, increased blood viscosity because of hypertension and finally electrolyte imbalance which are all thought to play a role in development of SNHL in CKD patients. Major risk factors for SNHL in CKD patients are duration of CKD, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, serum urea and creatinine levels, electrolyte imbalance, packed cell volume (PCV), ototoxic drugs. CKD being a long-term illness and majority of cases of SNHL in CKD patients are permanent, it has a great negative impact on the patient’s quality of life adding to the disability burden.