The study included children aged 6–18 years that were divided into 3 groups: 36 non-dialytic patients with chronic kidney disease, 16 end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis, and 30 healthy controls. Blood urea nitrogen, serum cystatin C levels, duration of chronic kidney disease, and the duration of hemodialysis were compared between the chronic kidney disease patients and end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis. Hearing health was measured via tympanometry, pure-tone audiometry and distortion product otoacoustic emissions testing.
Distortion product otoacoustic emission amplitudes and signal-to-noise ratios were significantly lower at all frequencies tested in the non-dialytic and dialytic groups than in the control group (p < 0.05). Patients with normal hearing had significantly lower distortion product otoacoustic emission amplitudes and signal-to-noise ratios than the healthy controls (p < 0.05). The duration of CKD, the cystatin C level, and the blood urea level were not associated with hearing loss. The present findings suggest that there was a significant association between the duration of HD and hearing loss.
The present findings show that there was impaired cochlear function in the dialytic and non-dialytic patient groups, regardless of hearing loss, as compared to the control group. Patients with chronic renal disease—both dialytic and non-dialytic—should be monitored to prevent any further deterioration by avoiding potential ototoxic agents, even if their hearing thresholds are within normal limits.