A female client with rheumatoid arthritis has taken high doses of aspirin for several years to control inflammatory pain. Which of the following statements leads the health care provider to suspect the client has developed ototoxicity?

Question

A) "I can't go to the movies anymore. It's so noisy, I miss half the words."
B) "I've been getting dizzy and light-headed. I seem to have a constant ringing in my ear."
C) "I almost got hit by a garbage truck. I didn't hear its backup beeper."
D) "When my grandchildren whisper, I can't hear a word they are saying."

Answer 1

Ans: B
Feedback:
Ototoxicity results in sensorineural hearing loss. Vestibular symptoms of ototoxicity include light-headedness, giddiness, and dizziness; if toxicity is severe, cochlear symptoms consisting of tinnitus or hearing loss occur. The symptoms of drug-induced hearing loss may be transient, as often is the case with salicylates and diuretics, or they may be permanent. Hearing loss in the elderly is further characterized by reduced hearing sensitivity and speech understanding in noisy environments, slowed central processing of acoustic information, and impaired localization of sound sources. High-frequency warning sounds, such as beepers, turn signals, and escaping steam, are not heard and localized, with potentially dangerous results. Clinical measures for hearing loss such as whispered voice tests and finger friction tests are reportedly imprecise and are not reliable methods for screening.