title: Hearing Results After Tympanoplasty Are Stable Short-term: A Prospective Database Study.
abstract: To evaluate the short-term stability of postoperative hearing results after tympanoplasty.
  
  
  
  Prospective database study.
  
  
  
  Tertiary referral center.
  
  
  
  1,367 cases of tympanoplasty I-IV were registered in the OTOKIR database between February 2004 and November 2013.
  
  
  
  The authors included the 553 cases attending postoperative follow-ups at both 3 and 12 months.
  
  
  
  Analysis of the changes in pure-tone average of air conduction (AC), air-bone gap, and speech reception threshold and Word Recognition Score between follow-ups were performed.
  
  
  
  The overall mean change between follow-ups was 0.7, 0.5, and 0.3 dB for the AC, air-bone gap, and speech reception threshold, respectively. A majority of cases (87.7%) had a change in AC of 10 dB or less, and only 7.6% of the tympanoplasty type I cases had a decrease in AC of more than 10 dB. Of the 1,367 cases registered, 47.5% of cases were lost to follow-up at 12 months.
  
  
  
  The changes in hearing results after tympanoplasty are minimal during 3 to 12 months after surgery. This suggests that 3-month results are as valid for reporting as 12-month results. In addition, a possible bias that compromises the validity of reported results is introduced at 12 months because half of the cases are lost to follow-up. Including results from 3-month postoperative follow-up when reporting on tympanoplasty could reduce bias in reporting and enable more centers to contribute valid results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kristine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aabenhus
authors.forename: Steven Arild Wuyts
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Mads Slvsten
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Srensen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing; D006801:Humans; D059012:Lost to Follow-Up; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014433:Tympanoplasty / Q000379:methods