Impact of prognostic factors on recovery from sudden hearing loss.
OBJECTIVE
To define the impact of patient-related and audiovestibular parameters on the prognosis of sudden hearing loss.


METHODS
Eighty-three patients were included in this retrospective study. All were treated medically. We recorded the patients' demographic parameters, systemic diseases, time elapsed between onset of sudden hearing loss and initiation of treatment, tinnitus, vestibular symptoms, type of initial audiogram, pure tone averages and speech discrimination scores. For all patients, audiological measurements were performed on initial admission and at the completion of treatment on the 10th day.


RESULTS
There was no correlation between the hearing gain and recovery rate scores and patients' gender or age (p>0.05). However, a correlation was found between gender and relative hearing gain. Vertigo was not correlated with hearing gain and recovery rate scores (p0.05); time elapsed between onset of sudden hearing loss and initiation of treatment (p>0.05); type of audiogram on initial admission (p>0.05), except for midfrequency type of audiogram; and tinnitus (p>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The outcome of sudden hearing loss was unaffected by systemic disease, tinnitus or type of audiogram (except for midfrequency type). The following were poor prognostic factors in the outcome of sudden hearing loss: female gender, presence of vertigo, initiation of treatment more than seven days after onset of hearing loss, and >40 dB hearing loss on admission.
Ceylan
A
A
Department of Otolaryngology, Gazi University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Celenk
F
F
Kemaloğlu
Y K
YK
Bayazit
Y A
YA
Göksu
N
N
Ozbilen
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001299:Audiometry; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014012:Tinnitus