Link Between RA, Hearing Loss Is Examined in New Study

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a significantly higher risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss than populations without RA, according to a recently published meta-analysis.

The researchers conducted a review according to PRISMA guidelines of 12 observational studies that included 20,022 patients with RA and 79,233 controls, to investigate whether RA was associated with specific types of hearing loss.

They found that patients with RA were approximately 4 times as likely to develop sensorineural hearing loss compared with controls. However, the patients with RA did not appear to have higher risk of conductive hearing loss or mixed hearing loss.

“RA is associated with multiple extra-articular manifestations (EAMs),” the researchers wrote. “Middle ear, cochlea, and the auditory nerve are suspected sites of RA activity, and hearing loss is a possible novel EAM of RA … Early screening of RA patients with pure tone audiometry should be considered.”

—Rebecca Mashaw

Reference:

Chaitidis N, Theocharis P, Festas C, Aritzi I. Association of rheumatoid arthritis with hearing loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Rheumatol Int. Published online June 2, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-020-04609-1