Association of Hearing Loss With HIV in Children.

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to assess the incidence of hearing loss (HL) in children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) using pure-tone audiometry and to find the association of HL with the duration of the disease and severity of HIV infection.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was done on 60 children in the age group of five to 18 years who presented to the anti-retroviral therapy (ART) clinic for follow-up. All children were confirmed cases of HIV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). For the study, all HIV-positive children were screened for any HL. Pure-tone audiometry was used for determining the hearing test. The degree and type of HL were assessed. The laterality of HL was assessed. The association of HL with the CD4 count and viral load was assessed. Mann-Whitney test, Fisher's exact test, and independent t-test were used for statistical analysis with a p-value < 0.05 being considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

HL was present in 10 (16.67%) cases, and all of them had conductive HL. Six cases had unilateral HL, while four cases had bilateral HL. In the majority (seven (70.00%)) of patients, the degree of HL was mild, followed by moderate HL (two (20.00%)) and minimal in only one (10.00%) patient. Compared to the HL- group, the HL+ group had significantly lower mean CD4 counts (483 ± 247.17 vs. 690.32 ± 301.09, p-value = 0.046) and significantly higher median viral load (2036.5 vs. 0, p < 0.0001). A significantly strong positive correlation was seen between the severity of HL with the viral load (r = 0.749, p = 0.018), and a significantly very strong negative correlation was seen between the severity of HL with CD4 counts (r = -0.809, p = 0.008).

CONCLUSION

An incidence rate of 16.67% HL was found among children with HIV. HL was predominantly mild in nature, and all cases had conductive HL. HL holds a direct correlation with increasing severity of HIV disease and subsequent falling of CD4 counts. Based on the results, it is recommended that all HIV-positive children must undergo routine audiology screening to determine the HL and provide them with audiological aid.