Audiological findings in persons under age of 65 diagnosed with osteoporosis. Preliminary study

Abstract

Introduction: Osteoporosis affects over 200 million people in the world and corresponds to a chronic disease that affects more women than men, with a prevalence in Chile of 1.7% and 0.2% respectively. Due to the large percentage of patients who suffer it, several studies about the secondary symptoms that can be found in this pathology have been carried out. In the last time, osteoporosis has been investigated as a risk factor for hearing loss. Aim: To compare the results of air auditory thresholds, tympanometry, and ipsilate- ral acoustic reflexes in patients with osteoporosis versus patients without osteoporosis, under 65 years old without another underlying disease. Material and method: Preliminary study of observational type of case and controls with exploratory scope. We analyzed 28 ears of a sample consisted of a group study of 7 participants with osteoporosis and a control group of 7 participants without osteoporosis. The tympanic oscillating system and auditory level of each participant were evaluated with tympanometry, ipsilateral stapedial acoustic reflex threshold and tonal audiometry. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed between both groups in the auditory thresholds with a sensorineural predominance and in the ipsilateral stape- dial acoustic reflex thresholds. Conclusions: The osteoporosis could be a risk factor for suffer hearing loss of sensorineural type. It is necessary to continue the study to obtain results with greater representativeness.