Sensorineural hearing loss in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media: Is there a significant correlation?

Even though there are other complications of chronic suppurative otitis media, the aspect of hearing loss is often studied. Nevertheless, the occurrence of sensorineural hearing loss in patients with this disease is still controversial. This study aim (1) to assess the association between sensorineural hearing loss and chronic suppurative otitis media, (2) to investigate some clinical factors that might affect the sensorineural component in patients with this disease. This was a retrospective analysis of the clinical records and pure tone audiograms of patients with chronic suppurative otitis media in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Institution from January 2003 to December 2008. Sixty-nine patients with a mean age of 28.93 years; standard deviation of 18.593 were studied. They had an age range of 4-73 years. The duration of otorrhea ranged from 2 months to 20 years; with a mean of 6.11 years (standard deviation of 6.393). The mean bone conduction threshold in the diseased ear was 39.07 dB (standard deviation of 12.028), and 10.26 dB (standard deviation of 2.620) in the control ear (P < 0.05). The mean bone conduction threshold differences between the diseased and control ears range from 21.69 to 34.52 dB across the frequencies 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 kHz. These differences tended to increase with increasing frequency and were all significant (P < 0.05). In the diseased ears, there were no significant correlation between the age, duration of otorrhea, and the degree of SNHL (r = 0.186, P > 0.05; r = 0.190, P > 0.05 respectively). Patients with chronic suppurative otitis media had a significant degree of sensorineural hearing loss in this study. The higher frequencies were more affected; however, the patient's age and duration of otorrhea seem not to have any correlation with the degree of sensorineural hearing loss.