Background and ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate prognostic factors in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL).Subjects and MethodsFrom January 2007 to December 2011, a retrospective chart review identified 494 consecutive patients with ISSNHL. Demographic, audiometric, and clinical data were analyzed using a logistic regression test.ResultsHearing recovery from ISSNHL was significantly associated with factors such as age, duration from onset of symptoms to commencement of treatment, severity of the initial pure tone threshold, and the treatment method. Intratympanic (IT) steroid administration alone showed a comparable efficiency to oral steroid administration with or without IT steroid injection. In patients who received IT steroid injection, the duration from onset to treatment, severity of initial hearing loss, and sequential IT steroid injection following systemic steroid administration were statistically associated with hearing improvement.ConclusionsAge, severity of initial pure tone threshold, duration from onset to treatment, initial speech discrimination, and initial pure tone threshold are statistically significant prognostic factors related to hearing improvement in ISSNHL. IT steroid injection as an initial single treatment is comparable to systemic oral steroid administration.

The probability of receiving additional ventilating tube insertion because of recurrent otitis media with effusion significantly increased in younger patients at the time of first ventilating tube insertion. The concurrent adenoidectomy, duration of the ventilating tube, postoperative otorrhea within 1 month, and early extrusion of the ventilating tube also influenced the probability of additional ventilating tube insertion.

Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is characterized by an increased hearing threshold and poor speech understanding in a noisy environment, slowed central processing of acoustic information, and impaired localization of sound sources. Presbycusis seriously affects the older people's quality of life. Particularly, hearing loss in the elderly contributes to social isolation, depression, and loss of self-esteem. Current amplification methods related to auditory rehabilitation can provide improved communication ability to users. But, simple auditory rehabilitation is ineffective in managing the central auditory processing disorder and the psychosocial problem of presbycusis. The evaluation of central auditory processing disorder and psychosocial disorder in presbycusis should not be overlooked while providing auditory rehabilitation.