Relatively young patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a significantly increased risk for hearing loss, say researchers who recommend that clinicians routinely test for hearing impairment in such patients.
Extra-articular symptoms such as hearing loss are common in RA, but researchers disagree about the type of hearing loss to which RA is associated, and whether markers of RA disease activity can predict the extent to which hearing is lost.
To investigate, Louisa Murdin (National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK) and fellow researchers tested the hearing of 55 patients with RA, all of whom were aged less than 50 years.
The researchers report that 29.6% of the patients had subjective hearing loss, while 1.9% had conductive hearing loss, at rates significantly higher than would be expected in the general population. Despite the increased incidence of hearing loss in these patients with RA, markers of disease activity did not predict the severity of hearing loss, comment the investigators in the journal Clinical Rheumatology.
Based on their findings, the researchers suggest that general practitioners and rheumatologists need to be aware that auditory symptoms can be features associated with the disease.
In particular, they recommend review appointments as ideal opportunities to enquire about hearing loss, noting that "early referral for rehabilitation can increases the likelihood of a successful outcome."
Murdin et al also highlight the need for further research into the underlying reasons for the link between RA and hearing loss and the need to determine whether such information could be used for early identification of those at risk for hearing loss.