Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Autoimmune Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Autoimmune diseases may cause various kinds of conflicts in and outside the target organ, and some evidence brings forward the suggestion that autoimmune diseases may damage the auditory nerve and cause sensorineural hearing loss. However, this relationship is not clearly defined yet. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess sensorineural hearing loss in autoimmune diseases through systematic review and meta-analysis. The literature databases of PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of knowledge, and Cochrane library were thoroughly searched, and a meta-analysis study was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Eighteen articles were included, involving 27 859 cases affected by autoimmune diseases. The prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss in systemic lupus erythematosus cases was 21.26 [3.80, 38.71]%, which was significant, and pooled analysis of odds ratio observed in individual studies showed that the odds of sensorineural hearing loss prevalence was 12.11 [7.4, 24.12] ( P < .001). The prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss in rheumatoid arthritis cases was 16.14 [−9.03, 41.31]%, which was significant, and pooled analysis of odds ratio observed in individual studies showed that the odds of sensorineural hearing loss prevalence was 2.23 [1.84, 2.32] ( P < .001). In vitiligo cases, the prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss was 38.80 [22.36, 55.25]%, which was significant, and pooled analysis of odds ratio observed in individual studies showed that the odds of sensorineural hearing loss prevalence was 5.82 [3.74, 9.68] ( P < .001). The present study showed that sensorineural hearing loss is significantly related to the autoimmune diseases of systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and vitiligo. Therefore, these cases need a routine evaluation of sensorineural hearing loss. KEYWORDS : Hearing Loss, Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL), Sudden Hearing Los, Autoimmune Diseases

Prevalence of Hearing Impairment Among Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

“…This disparity is of particular concern as SLE is a leading cause of death among young women. In a comprehensive study in the USA involving over 26,000 female patients with SLE, the all-cause mortality rate was found to be 2.6 times higher than in the general population, with SMRs nearly fivefold for infections and renal disease, and more than double for cardiovascular disease (4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Hearing, a critical aspect of human sensory perception, involves the processing and interpretation of sound.…”