Idiopathic Sudden Hearing Loss Seasonal Effects Study 2012-2023

596 patients diagnosed with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) were analyzed in a retrospective cohort study from a tertiary referral center between 2012 and 2023. The study, authored by Jameel Ghantous, investigates whether seasonal onset influences disease incidence and hearing recovery outcomes, finding no significant seasonal differences.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal onset distribution (spring, summer, autumn, winter) across 596 patient records to test for incidence patterns.
• Model hearing recovery outcomes using audiometric parameters like pure-tone average (PTA) and word recognition score (WRS) against seasonal categories.
• Conduct multivariate analysis to assess if season of onset is an independent predictor of recovery, controlling for demographics and comorbidities.
• Compare baseline audiometric parameters and post-treatment improvements in PTA and WRS across the four seasonal patient groups.

Strengths

• Dataset contains 596 patient records, a substantial single-center cohort for studying ISSNHL.
• Analysis spans 12 years of data from 2012 to 2023, providing a long-term view.
• Study includes detailed audiometric outcome measures: pure-tone average (PTA), speech recognition threshold (SRT), and word recognition score (WRS).
• Patients received standardized treatment per AAO-HNS guidelines, ensuring clinical consistency.

Limitations

• Data is from a single tertiary referral center, limiting geographic and institutional generalizability.
• The dataset is small in file size (29.7 KB), indicating it is a summary or analysis document, not the raw patient-level data.
• Retrospective study design is susceptible to biases inherent in medical record reviews.

Provenance

Source

Retrospective cohort from a tertiary referral center.

Collection Method

Medical record analysis of patients diagnosed with ISSNHL within 14 days of symptom onset.

Time Range

2012 to 2023

Freshness

Data covers up to 2023, with the record last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Single tertiary referral center; specific location not provided.