Probability of audiovestibular pathologies, hearing loss and cochlear function in patients with ankylosing spondylitis in a tertiary institute.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the auditory function in a sample of patients with ankylosing spondylitis and to determine the conditional probability of occurrence among variables related to auditory characteristics through joint probability analysis.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study. Sociodemographic and auditory characteristics were collected from 49 patients. Descriptive analysis and probabilistic intersection analysis were conducted to determine the joint probability between variables.

RESULTS

Superficial hearing loss was observed in 22.4%, a decline in high frequencies in 20.4%, a sensorineural hearing loss pattern in 47% of right ears and 49% of left ears, As-type tympanograms in 49% of right ears and 57.1% of left ears, and absence of ipsilateral stapedius reflexes (predominantly in the left ear) in 55.1%. Transient otoacoustic emissions exhibited inadequate reproducibility, particularly 4000 and 1000 Hz, in both ears, with tinnitus being the most common audiovestibular symptom (36.7%). The joint probability that a patient is male, has ankylosing spondylitis with 10 years of disease progression, and presents a sensorineural hearing loss pattern in either the right or left ear, is 27.7%.

CONCLUSIONS

Sensorineural hearing loss is highly prevalent among patients with ankylosing spondylitis. The duration of the disease is a significant factor influencing the presentation of hearing loss and audiovestibular symptoms.