INTRODUCTION Cholesteatoma of the ear is a common disease encountered by otologists all over the world. Congenital, primary acquired and secondary acquired are the terms described to denote the types of cholesteatoma. All the above types cause deafness but the correlation between the type and degree of hearing loss remains doubtful. AIM To evaluate the hearing loss in all types of cholesteatoma patients and analyse the association between nature of hearing loss and the type of cholesteatoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study is a cross-sectional cohort study of cholesteatoma patients undergoing surgery. Air, bone conduction thresholds, PTA, air bone gaps and preoperative ossicular status were studied and analysed in all types of cholesteatoma. RESULTS One hundred and sixty two patients aged between 8 and 65 were included in the study. Nineteen patients had congenital cholesteatoma, 58 had primary cholesteatoma and 85 had secondary cholesteatoma. All patients had increased air, bone conduction thresholds, PTA thresholds and large air bone gaps on pure tone audiometry, whereas secondary cholesteatoma patients showed higher mean values for loss of hearing across all frequencies compared to other types. CONCLUSIONS The correlation between losses of hearing and damage caused by cholesteatoma of all types especially acquired secondary type was evident from this study showing higher degrees of loss of hearing in all frequencies and larger air bone gap.