{
  "abstract": "Introduction: Hearing impairment has been increasingly recognized as being associated with diabetes mellitus. Although previous studies have demonstrated a higher prevalence of hearing loss among people with diabetes, less is known about self-reported hearing-related symptoms and their association with demographic and clinical characteristics among adults with diabetes.\n\nPurpose: To assess the burden of self-reported hearing-related symptoms among adults with diabetes and examine their associations with age, sex, and diabetes duration.\n\nMethods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the first half of 2022 among 128 adults with diabetes. Data were collected using an author-developed questionnaire constructed based on a review of the literature addressing hearing-related symptoms and their everyday and social consequences. The questionnaire was not formally validated. A Hearing-Related Symptom Score was calculated from seven self-reported symptom questions (range, 0–7). Multivariable Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to examine associations between the Hearing-Related Symptom Score and age, sex, and diabetes duration.\n\nResults: The mean age was 51.19 years (SD, 16.88), and the median Hearing-Related Symptom Score was 4 (range, 0–7). In the multivariable model ( n = 127), older age was independently associated with a higher symptom score (adjusted ratio of expected symptom-score burden, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01–1.03; P < 0.001), while male sex was associated with a lower symptom score than female sex (adjusted ratio of expected symptom-score burden, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.69–0.99; P = 0.037). Diabetes duration was not independently associated with symptom score (adjusted ratio of expected symptom-score burden, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00–1.02; P = 0.170). Age remained positively associated with symptom burden in both women and men; however, the age-by-sex interaction was not statistically significant ( P = 0.501).\n\nConclusion: Self-reported hearing-related symptom burden was associated with age and sex, but not independently with diabetes duration after adjustment. Findings should be interpreted cautiously given the cross-sectional design, convenience sampling, self-reported data, and use of a non-validated questionnaire. Further studies using validated instruments and objective hearing assessment are warranted.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Centre for Education and Specialized Medical Care",
    "Polish Diabetes Education Association",
    "Metabolica Sp. z o.o.",
    "Department of Biophysics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences",
    "Gemini ProMed Medical Center Sp. z o.o.",
    "Department of Nursing, Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa",
    "Department of Diabetology and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Beata Stepanow"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Joanna Partyka"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Weronika Ciszak"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Anna Marcinkowska-Gapińska"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Piotr Wolski"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Katarzyna Karpus"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Dagna Rudnik"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Elzbieta Krupińska"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Leszek Czupryniak"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c2trhxyzhwbw3.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fpubh.2026.1943385",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "c2trhxyzhwbw3",
  "issns": [
    "2296-2565"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1943385/full",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224092604",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1943385/pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c2trhxyzhwbw3.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fpubh.2026.1943385",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1943385/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:2805|Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Self-reported hearing-related symptoms among adults with diabetes: a cross-sectional study",
  "title_text": "Self-reported hearing-related symptoms among adults with diabetes: a cross-sectional study",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c2trhxyzhwbw3",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Public Health",
  "versions": []
}