A Descriptive Study of the Hearing of HIV Positive Individuals

Centro de Estudos da Saúde do Trabalhador e Ecologia Humana, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Sala 55 Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, 1480, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP: 21040-360, Brazil

*Corresponding Author:

Marcia Soalheiro
Centro de Estudos da Saúde do Trabalhador e Ecologia Humana
Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Sala 55 Rua Leopoldo Bulhões
1480, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro
RJ, CEP: 21040-360, Brazil
E-mail: soalheir@ensp.fiocruz.br

Received date: March 14, 2013; Accepted date: April 22, 2013; Published date: April 24, 2013

Citation: Soalheiro M, da Rocha LF, Torreão D, Francis D, Fontes V (2013) A Descriptive Study of the Hearing of HIV Positive Individuals. Occup Med Health Aff 1:112. doi:

Copyright: © 2013 Soalheiro M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Visit for more related articles at Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs

Introduction

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS) and results in reduced immunity, which makes the persons more susceptible to numerous occasional infections and diseases due to low immunity, which requires attention regarding the use of ototoxic drugs, as in the case of tuberculosis. Ministry of Health’s data shows 592.914 AIDS cases registered in the country from 1980 until June 2010. Only in the year 2009, there were 38.538 reported cases across the country, accounting to an incidence rate of about 20 cases of AIDS per 100,000 inhabitants.

Objectives

This study aims to characterize the auditory profile of HIV positive individuals and to investigate diseases caused by lower immunity and its interference with the hearing profile.

Methods

The study included 58 patients of both genders, being 24 female and 34 male, all HIV carriers with confirmed diagnosis and in treatment at the Research Institute Evandro Chagas (IPEC/Fiocruz), where they were referred to hearing clinical investigation at the Reference Center for Occupational Health and Human Ecology (CESTEH/Fiocruz). The age range of the group varied between 25 and 66 years with a mean age of 43 years (SD 8.7559). Prior to the audiometry, all participants underwent the CESTEH audiology service anamnesis. Following that an audiometry examination by air and bone conduction was conducted using an clinical audiometer Beltone, Model 2000 in a audiometric cabin. The results were interpreted using Davis and Silvermann´s classification criteria of degree of hearing loss.

Results

Out of 58 patients evaluated, 42 presented hearing loss, being 21 of the sensorineural type ranging from mild to severe and 21 of the conductive or mixed kind ranging from mild to severe. All patients were taking antiretroviral medication. Of the total sample studied, 22 patients had tuberculosis (TB) and were on medication for this disease and 36 patients did not present tuberculosis. Of the 22 with HIV and TB, 19 had hearing loss, i.e. 86.4% while the group with HIV only showed 63.9% of hearing loss. These results show a statistically significant difference in hearing loss between the population with HIV and TB when compared with the group with HIV only.

Conclusion

Patients with HIV and tuberculosis presented auditory change. AIDS/HIV and related diseases should be monitored and prevented so that patients do not suffer further damage due to the use of ototoxic drugs, which are considered a risk factor for hearing loss.