Study of prevalence & degree of sensorineural hearing loss in chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM)

Introduction: CSOM is the common chronic infectious disease and is considered the leading cause of acquired hearing loss. Hearing loss is a public health problem in developed and developing countries. Material and methods: A prospective cohort observational study on 100 Cases in two groups of 50 each who had safe CSOM and 50 Unsafe CSOM conducted over a period of July 2011 to September 2013 at Department of Otorhinolaryngology Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, DPU, Pimpri, Pune. Detailed history, complete ENT examination was done. They were then subjected to Puretone audiometry; air and bone conduction thresholds were tested and plotted on the audiogram. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression (odds ratio) analyses were used. Results: In the present study the degree of sensorinueral component of hearing loss was >35db in majority of the cases. The mean bone conduction threshold values were obtained by mean value of threshold at frequencies 250, 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz. Higher speech frequencies were affected in majority of patients. Greater sensorineural component was found in CSOM with cholesteatoma. Greater incidence of hearing loss with increasing duration of disease. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that CSOM is associated with some degree of SNHL and cochlear damage, and higher frequencies are more affected. Increasing age can act as a precipitating factor in this disease process. KeywordsCSOM, Sensoryneural hearing loss, Frequency ......................................................................................................................................................