Ototoxic Hearing Loss in the Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis

Background: The recommended treatment of MDR TB lasts for 20 months following therapy with second line anti - tuberculosis drugs (SLDs) which carry the risk of adverse effects including hearing loss. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of hearing loss and its association with demographic and clinical variables in multidrug resistant tuberculosis patients on second line drugs. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Audiology Department of the Civil Hospital Bahawalpur, over a period of 6 months, from 1st May 2019 to 31st October 2019. The study included 65 diagnosed cases of tuberculosis, aged 12-70 years, of either sex, who were on second line antituberculous therapy. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used for patient selection. Screening was performed using medical history sheet, otoscopy and hearing assessment. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS- Version 21. Results: Among a total of 65 patients,43 (66.2%) were males and 22(33.8%) were females. Mean age of study population was 35.87±9.35 years. Hearing loss was seen in 14(21.5%) cases, with mild hearing loss in 15.4% cases and moderate hearing loss 6.2%. Hearing loss was associated with type of drug used, its duration and associated symptoms of tinnitus and vertigo (p=0.000). Conclusion: It was found that hearing loss is quite frequent (21.5 %) with multidrug resistant anti-tuberculous therapy in this region and is significantly associated with the type of drug used and its duration. Majority of affected cases were seen with the use of streptomycin