Objective: Evidence suggests damage to brain auditory pathways, rather than inner ear damage, underlies the hearing difficulties HIV+ individuals report. But, anti-retroviral therapy (ART) may affect the hearing system and also lead to hearing complaints.Design: Longitudinal study of HIV+ and HIV-individuals in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. A subset of this cohort started ART while in the study allowing the effects of ART to be studied directly. Methods:The ability to hear quiet sounds (pure-tone audiometry), cochlear outer hair cell function (distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), and gaps-in-noise detection thresholds (a central auditory processing test) were assessed at each visit. Visits were scheduled for 6-month intervals, but the number and spacing of visits varied. In the group that started ART while in the study, 107 HIV+ individuals had audiometric thresholds, 98 had DPOAEs, and 98 had gap measurements suitable for analysis. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model with time and starting ART as fixed effects and individual subject repeated measures as random effects.Results: Starting ART did not affect audiometric or gap detection thresholds. The slope of the DPOAE amplitude vs. time relationship was more negative after starting ART but did not differ from the HIV-group. Gap thresholds were higher in the HIV+ group.

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Objective Chronic suppurative otitis media is among the most common otological condition reported in otorhinolaryngology practice commonly attributing to preventable hearing loss. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and etiological agents for chronic suppurative otitis media in our department. Results A total of 5591 patients were recruited in this study and only 79 (1.4%) had chronic suppurative otitis media. A male preponderance 43 (54.4%) was noted in this study and the left ear (58.2%) was more commonly affected compared to the right ear. Central perforation was the commonest pattern of presentation and was reported in 53% of cases though none had attic perforation. Of the 81 processed ear swabs, microbial growth was seen in majority 80 (98.8%) whilst one sample showed no microbial growth whereas 52.5% had polymicrobial growth. Among the isolates, most were gram negative species accounting for 59.7% while gram positive bacteria accounted for 25.6% and fungi accounted for 14.7%. Most of these isolates were facultative anaerobes. Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.2%) was the commonest isolates while Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were equally least isolated (10.9%). Tested isolates were most sensitive to Ciprofloxacin, Gentamycin, Ceftriaxone and Amikacin and least sensitive to Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and Ampicillin. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-019-4483-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background The development of neurocognitive deficits in people infected with HIV is a significant public health problem. Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that performance on central auditory tests (CATs) correlates with cognitive test results in those with HIV, but no longitudinal data exist for confirmation. We have been performing longitudinal assessments of central auditory and cognitive function on a cohort of HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to understand how the central auditory system could be used to study and track the progress of central nervous system dysfunction. Objective The goal of the project was to determine if CATs can track the trajectory of cognitive function over time in people diagnosed with HIV. Methods Tests of peripheral and central auditory function as well as cognitive performance were performed on 382 individuals over the course of 3.5 years. Visits were scheduled every 6 months. CATs included tests of auditory temporal processing (gap detection) and speech perception in noise (Hearing in Noise Test and Triple Digit Test). Cognitive tests included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), and subtests from the Cogstate battery. HIV-positive subjects were divided into groups based on their CAT results at their final visit (bottom 20%, top 20%, middle 60%). Primary analyses focused on the comparison between HIV-positive individuals that performed worse on CATs (bottom 20%) and the overall HIV-positive group (middle 60%). Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effect models with time as the main fixed effect. Results The group with the worst (bottom 20%) CAT performance showed a difference in trajectory for the MoCA (P=.003), TOVA (P<.048), and Cogstate (P<.046) over the course of the study period compared to the overall HIV-positive group. A battery of three CATs showed a significant difference in cognitive trajectory over a relatively short study period of 3.5 years independent of age (bottom 20% vs HIV-positive group). Conclusions The results of this study support the ability for CATs to track cognitive function over time, suggesting that central auditory processing can provide a window into central nervous system performance. CATs can be simple to perform, and are relatively insensitive to education and socioeconomic status because they only require repeating sentences, numbers, or detecting gaps in noise. These tests could potentially provide a time-efficient, low-cost method to screen for and monitor cognitive decline in patients with HIV, making them a useful surveillance tool for this major public health problem.