Functions of the inner ear in psoriatic arthritis

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether there is a negative impact as a result of psoriatic arthritis disease of the inner ear function.

Methods: Twenty-four successive patients and 38 healthy volunteers, younger than 60 years of age, who were followed up for at least for one year in the outpatient clinics of physical therapy and rehabilitation with the diagnosis of PsA according to CASPAR criteria (17) and who did not complain of any hearing impairment were included in the study. Distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) values between 1kHz and 4kHz, tympanometric examination results, stapes reflex values, speech reception threshold (SRT) and speech discrimination (SD) values, pure-tone values between 250 and 8000Hz and high-frequency values between 10,000, 12,500 and 16,000Hz were analyzed. Statistical comparisons between both groups were performed using chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test. p<0.05 was accepted as the level of statistical significance.

Results: Our study population consisted of 24 [9 male (37.5%) and 15 female (62.5%)] patients with a mean age of 47.21±11.28 (range, 28-59) years and 38 [16 male (42.1%) and 22 female (57.9%)] healthy volunteers with a mean age of 44.39±8.12 (range, 29-59) years as the control group. Mean duration of arthritis was 7.62±4.88 years. In the evaluation of hearing frequencies of the patients between 4000 and 6000Hz, a statistically significant difference was found relative to the control group (p<005). DPOAE values of the patients were analyzed within the 1000-4000Hz interval. When compared with the control group, a statistically significant difference was found at 3000 and 4000Hz (p<005).

Conclusion: Our study provides strong evidence suggesting the necessity of monitorization of these patients regarding sensorineural hearing loss so as to take measures against the development of hearing loss during early stage, which may be another disability in patients with PsA, which is itself a potential cause of severe disability.

Keywords: Distortion-product otoacoustic emissions; High-frequency audiometry; Inner ear functions; Psoriatic arthritis.