Rheumatoid factor and hearing loss.

To find out the association between rheumatoid factor and hearing loss, a prospective study was conducted at Tertiary care/Medical college hospital. We screened 85 patients with positive rheumatoid factor for evidence of hearing loss. These patients were collected from the Departments of Medicine and Orthopedics. Out of 85 patients, who were positive for rheumatoid factor, underwent screening for hearing loss. These patients had a normal pure tone audiogram but Distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) was absent in twenty three patients. DPOAE was absent in 27% of cases, in whom there was positive rheumatoid factor. It was extremely statistically significant.