Hemant Chopra, Kapil Dua, Puneet Bajaj.
Audiological profile in alcoholics
Pak J Otolaryngol Dec 2004;20(3):40-3.
Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, India

Regular alcohol consumption is known to have a deleterious effect on all organ systems of the body, including the nervous system. Chronic alcoholics have previously been reported to have a baseline mixed hearing loss. A prospective, randomized study was carried out to evaluate the ototoxic effects of alcohol. For the purpose of the study, 25 alcoholic subjects were taken, their audiological profile was assessed by performing pure tone audiometry (PTA) and brainstem evoked response audiometry (BERA). The results were compared with that of 25 age matched controls. Hearing loss was assessed according to the age of the subject, quantity of drinking, duration of drinking and the bilirubin levels. Definite hearing loss was found on PTA at higher frequencies amongst alcoholics in younger age groups. A delay in absolute wave latencies of wave I, III and Vas well as inter peak latencies of I-II and I-V was also found. The changes were more marked in alcoholics who had longer duration of alcohol intake and raised bilirubin levels. It was concluded that there was a definite degrading effect of alcohol on the hearing ability of the changefont subjects.

Category: Otolaryngology
Keywords: Audiometry. Hearing Loss. Deafness. Alcohol. Alcohol Ototoxicity.

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