UCSF

Mexican Americans have a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Among the

elderly, hearing loss is also a significant chronic condition. Understanding of the

co-occurrence of these conditions is important for planning screening,

intervention and support for a vulnerable population. Aims: The objective of this

study was to test a model of predictors of hearing loss in type 2 diabetes. The

model tested was developed through a process of answering several research

questions in a two part analysis. Part 1 of the analysis explored the relationship

between hearing loss and type 2 diabetes in an existing sample of Mexican

Americans (N=990) from the greater Sacramento area of California. Additional

analysis in Part 2 was focused on predictors of high frequency hearing loss in

diabetes in the sub-cohort of participants with type 2 diabetes (n=405). Methods:

A cross-sectional subset of data from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on

Aging (SALSA) was analyzed to meet the study aims. Analysis included

correlations, non-parametric testing, and logistic regression models. Results:

High frequency hearing loss in the worse ear was significantly more prevalent in

those with diabetes. In logistic regression modeling, age and gender were

significant predictors of hearing loss but diabetes was only significantly related to

hearing loss in the worse ear. This effect was found to be explained by females

in the sample as it was not significant for males on gender-specific analysis.

Analysis of participants with diabetes revealed that age, gender, and pesticides

use predicted high frequency hearing loss in the worse ear while age, gender

and two diabetes symptom factors relating to energy/fatigue and

cardiac/pulmonary symptoms were predictors in the better ear. There was an

interaction effect between diabetes and pesticides use that suggests a need for

further study to determine if diabetes makes an individual more vulnerable to the

negative effects of pesticides. The results provided partial support for the

conceptual model developed for the study and suggested directions for future

research on hearing loss in individuals with diabetes.