Importance of small vessel disease as a possible cause of sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE: Vascular disease like small-vessel disease (SVD) is the most likely cause among the potential causes of Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Understanding the relationship between SVD and SSNHL is crucial for developing effective prevention and treatment strategies. To confirm the relationship between SVD and SSNHL, the effect of SVD is confirmed by focusing on the duration and recurrence of SSNHL. METHODS: This article reports a retrospective observational study that investigated the relationship between SVD and SSNHL using the South Korea Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) database from 2010 to 2020. This retrospective observational study included 319,569 SSNHL patients between 2010 and 2020. RESULTS: Participant demographics were controlled using Propensity Score Matching. The hazard ratios (HR) for the effect of SVD on the duration of SSNHL were 1.045 for the group with SVD before the onset of SSNHL and 1.234 for the group with SVD after the onset of SSNHL. SVD was statistically significant for the recurrence of SSNHL, with an odds ratio of 1.312 in the group with SVD compared to the group without SVD. The HR for the period until a recurrence in the group with SVD was 1.062. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified SVD as a possible cause of SSNHL and found that the duration of SSNHL increased only in the presence of SVD. SVD also affected the recurrence of SSNHL, with the recurrence rate being 1.312 times higher in the group with SVD.

Clinical characteristics of the "Gap" between the prevalence and incidence of hearing loss using National Health Insurance Service data.

OBJECTIVES: Hearing loss is the inability to hear speech or sounds well, owing to a number of causes. This study aimed to simultaneously determine the prevalence, incidence, and the Gap between them in hearing loss in South Korean patients at the same point in time as well as to identify patients who have not recovered from hearing loss. METHODS: We examined the prevalence and incidence of patients diagnosed with hearing loss in the National Health Insurance Service database over an 11-year period from 2010 to 2020. The difference between the prevalence and the incidence was defined in this study as the term "Gap". Gap is the number of patients converted into the number of patients per 100,000 people by subtracting the incidence from the prevalence. Clinical characteristics such as sex and age per 100,000 individuals were examined. RESULTS: As of 2020, the domestic prevalence obtained in this study was 1.84%, increasing annually, and the prevalence increased with age to 4.10% among those over 60. The domestic incidence was 1.57%, increasing annually, and the incidence increased with age to 3.36% for those over 60s. The Gap was 0.27%, showing a steady increase from 2011 to 2020 with a corresponding increase in insurance benefit expenses. CONCLUSION: To fully understand the burden of hearing loss and develop effective prevention and treatment strategies, it is important to measure the Gap between its prevalence and incidence. This Gap means a lot because hearing loss is an irreversible disease. Gap represents patients who have already been diagnosed with hearing loss and are being diagnosed every year, indicating that the number of patients who do not recover is increasing. In other words, the increase in Gap meant that there were many patients who constantly visited the hospital for diagnosis of hearing loss.