Gaps-in-noise test performance in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background and Aim: Hearing loss is one of the complications of the type 2 diabetes mellitus, which commonly affects the central auditory processing. Gap in noise (GIN) test is an appropriate clinical tool for evaluating temporal auditory processing. The purpose of the present research was to compare the results of the GIN test in the diabetic patients with non-diabetic participants.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 30 subjects with type 2 diabetes (mean age=43.33, SD=4.7 years) and 30 normal hearing subjects (mean age=41.26, SD=6.2 years) were examined by the GIN test. The approximate GIN threshold and the percentage of correct answers were measured in all individuals.Results: The findings showed an increase in the approximate GIN threshold and a decrease in the percentage of correct answers in the diabetic group in comparison with the non-diabetic group (p<0.05). In addition, the GIN threshold in the right ear was lower than the left one in the case group (p<0.05).Conclusion: According to the derived results, the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus appear to have defects in the temporal resolution domain the auditory stimuli and this disorder affects left ear more than right ear.