The duration of antiretrovirals administration and hearing impairment in HIV-infected patients

Abstract

Background: Antiretrovirals (ARV) treatment in HIV has a role in preventing HIV transmission, because ARV drugs have a mechanism of action to prevent viral replication which gradually reduces the amount of virus in the blood. Nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) are a type of ARV that has side effects of hearing impairment. This research was purposed to determine the relationship between the duration of ARV administration with hearing impairment HIV-infected patients. Methods: We used a cross-sectional design in HIV patients aged 19-59 years who were undergoing ARV treatment at Dr. Kariadi Semarang. We identified 91 patients whose complaints of hearing impairment (tinnitus and/or hearing loss) obtained from the history. We analyzed the data with the chi-square test, fisher s exact and yate correlation. Results: There were 91 respondents who received ARVs. Male 62 people (68.1%) female 29 people (31.9%), the youngest was 19 years old, the oldest was 52 years old, mean age was 34.8 years+ 8,04. The duration of ARV administration was not associated with tinnitus (p=0.385), hearing loss (p=0.344), and hearing impairment (p=0.454). Conclusions: The duration of ARV administration was not associated with tinitus, hearing loss, hearing impairment.