Prevalence and pattern of hearing loss in patients with chronic kidney disease in Kaduna, Northwestern Nigeria

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is considered a serious public health issue, may be associated with hearing loss. Aim: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and pattern of hearing loss among adult patients with CKD in Northwestern Nigeria. Participants and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of patients with CKD in a tertiary hospital in Northwestern Nigeria. Non-CKD population matched for age and sex were enrolled as controls. Ethical approval was obtained from relevant bodies. Informed consent was obtained. Data were obtained from clinical interview and audiometric evaluation of the participants. The data were descriptively analyzed using SPSS version 20. The Chi-square test was used, and the level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Sixty patients and sixty controls participated in this study. The mean age for patients and controls was 43.2 ± 13.4 and 41.2 ± 11.3, respectively. Sixty-nine of the 120 ears of patients had hearing loss, whereas 25 of the 120 ears of the controls had hearing loss, giving a prevalence of 57.5% and 20.8% among patients and controls, respectively. Of patients with hearing loss, 97.1% had sensorineural hearing loss and the remaining 2.9% had mixed hearing loss. The hearing loss was mostly mild (75.4%) and bilateral (91.7%) mainly affecting higher frequencies (63.8%). Conclusion: This study showed that hearing loss was more prevalent among patients with CKD. In majority of the patients, the hearing loss was mild, bilateral, sensorineural, and mostly affecting higher frequencies.