Subclinical neural hearing alterations in school children with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Evidence has shown a cause-and-effect relationship between type 1 diabetes mellitus and auditory and cognitive dysfunctions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) on central auditory and cognitive functions in school-age children and adolescents. The study sample consisted of 101 children and adolescents, 50 with T1DM, of both sexes, aged between 7 and 18 years. All participants were selected for a structured interview on hearing, behavioral, and cognitive health and assessment of brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) and event-related potentials (P300). Significant differences were observed in memory (p=0.002) and attention (p=0.021) complaints between participants with and without T1DM. In the BAEP responses, there were differences between wave III latencies in the right (p=0.017) and left (p=0.019) ears and in wave V latencies in the left ear (p=0.001) between the evaluated groups. In addition, there was an association between BAEP findings and metabolic control in the T1DM group in the left ear in waves III (p=0.006) and V (p=0.005) and in the right ear in wave V (p=0.026). No differences were observed in the latencies of P300 between the evaluated groups. This study demonstrated the existence of a subclinical finding in the central auditory pathway, offering an increased risk for retrocollear alterations, which may be a consequence of poor metabolic control. La evidencia ha demostrado una relación de causa y efecto entre la diabetes mellitus tipo 1 y las disfunciones auditivas y cognitivas. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar el efecto de la diabetes mellitus tipo 1 (DM1) en las funciones cognitivas y auditivas centrales en niños y adolescentes en edad escolar. La muestra del estudio estuvo constituida por 101 niños y adolescentes, 50 con DM1, de ambos sexos, con edades entre 7 y 18 años. Todos los participantes fueron seleccionados para una entrevista estructurada sobre la salud auditiva, conductual y cognitiva y la evaluación de los potenciales evocados auditivos del tronco encefálico (BAEP) y los potenciales relacionados con eventos (P300). Se observaron diferencias significativas en quejas de memoria (p=0,002) y atención (p=0,021) entre participantes con y sin DM1. En las respuestas BAEP, hubo diferencias entre las latencias de la onda III en el oído derecho (p=0,017) e izquierdo (p=0,019) y en las latencias de la onda V en el oído izquierdo (p=0,001) entre los grupos evaluados. Además, hubo aso