Sensorineural hearing loss in chronic renal failure patients in a tertiary care centre

Sensorineural hearing loss is considerably more prevalent in patients with Chronic Renal Failure than in the general population.This study is aimed to find the proportion of Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL) in End Stage Chronic Renal Failure (Stage 4 and 5 CRF), to describe the hearing impairment and determine the possible factors responsible for hearing loss. The sample of the study consisted of 115 patients, with in the age group of 15 to 60 years. Methods: All patients underwent clinical evaluation including ENT examination and Pure Tone Audiometry. Results: 40% (46/115 patients) of patients had SNHL. Majority had bilateral and symmetrical hearing loss, mostly affecting high frequencies. Among the factors studied, age, duration of CRF, usage of ototoxic drugs, number of hemodialysis and serum creatinine were found to have statistically significant association with SNHL. Conclusion: 40% of CRF patients had SNHL and hearing loss was associated with the age of the patient, duration of CRF, number of hemodialysis and the highvalue of serum creatinine