BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:The relationship between diabetes and hearing loss has been debated for many years. Hyperglycemia appears to have an effect on hearing loss and the proposed mechanisms are microangiopathy, neuropathy or a combination of both. The objective of this study was to evaluate a cross section of hyperglycemic subjects with age- and sex-matched normoglycemic controls with pure tone audiometry and compare the differences.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Forty-one type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects and 41 age- and sex-matched normoglycemic controls were subjected to a pure tone audiometric assessment followed by evaluation of their glycemic status and degree of glycemic control. The resulting data was statistically analyzed.RESULTS:The auditory thresholds in hyperglycemic subjects were higher in all age groups in all the frequencies suggestive of sensorineural hearing loss. The hyperglycemic subjects with poor control of their blood sugar levels (HbA1C > 8%) had elevated auditory thresholds in all the test frequencies. The fasting blood sugar level in hyperglycemic subjects showed a trend towards significant difference at higher frequencies, the postprandial blood sugar levels showed significant differences at higher frequencies. There was no effect of duration of diabetes mellitus on the hearing thresholds in hyperglycemic subjects.CONCLUSION:Subjects with hyperglycemia have a sensorineural hearing loss when evaluated with a pure tone audiometer in all frequencies than a normoglycemic control group. The study showed that post prandial blood sugar levels and HbA1C levels had a direct bearing on the auditory acuity of the hyperglycemic subjects.

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Introduction: In a dynamic and stressful environment like medical field, where one has to be a lifelong learner, any tool that will simplify and facilitate the learning process and improve the learning outcome is welcome. Awareness of metacognitive knowledge along with its sub components is one such tool. Method: This cross sectional study was done on all the first year medical students in a college in South India. Metacognitive knowledge questionnaire (testing procedural, declarative and conditional knowledge), a validated tool was administered to all the students. Cumulative academic scores of the full academic year of I MBBS were considered. Data was analysed using ANOVA and Spearson's correlation tests on SPSS version 22. Results: Metacognitive knowledge has a linear relation with academic performance as does its sub components. Metacognitive knowledge and its subcomponents show a statistically significant positive correlation with academic scores. Conclusion: As educators, designing and inculcation of strategies to improve metacognitive knowledge would empower the students and be the key for their academic success.

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