In Brief:
Type 2 diabetes is at near epidemic levels among Veterans, and a likely complication of diabetes is hearing loss. This study sought to quantify, in a cohort of Veterans with diabetes and relatively good hearing, the effects of the disease, and the level of disease control on hearing thresholds, speech understanding in noise, time compressed speech, and hearing-related quality of life (QOL). We found a significant impact on hearing through 2000 Hz among Veterans with poorly controlled disease. These Veterans were also more likely to report that their hearing adversely impacted QOL on one of three subscales examined (ability to adapt).
