Hearing loss in people with HIV/AIDS and associated factors: an integrative review

The current scientific literature reports on the incidence of hearing impairments due to HIV/AIDS, and the hearing changes can occur due to damage to the outer, middle or inner ear. Thus, it is important to study how these changes occur, the hearing loss and their associations with the HIV/AIDS infection. Objective: To identify the factors related to hearing loss in people with HIV/AIDS in the global scientific literature. Method: Study carried out an Integrative Review of the Literature. The key words used were: hearing loss, hearing disorders and deafness, separately associated to the keyword HIV on PUBMED, ScIELO, LILACS and ISI databases. We used complete original papers, of free access, in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Thirteen quantitative studies from 1994-2010 were selected. Conclusion: We did not find any strong direct association between anti-retroviral therapy and hearing loss; however, there are indications of hearing loss in the population studied, and their associations and causes need to be better investigated.