Evaluation of the Audiological Characteristics of Patients with Otosclerosis Referring to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinics of Babol City, Iran

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Otosclerosis is the most common disorder of the bony labyrinth and stapes only affecting humans. Otosclerosis is considered a major cause of acquired hearing loss. This study aimed to evaluate the audiological characteristics of patients with otosclerosis referring to the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) clinics of Babol city, Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on all the patients with otosclerosis within the age range of 20-67 years referring to ENT clinics of Babol city in Iran. Demographic characteristics and clinical symptoms, including tinnitus, hearing loss, and hearing at different frequencies, were recorded and evaluated for each patient. FINDINGS: In total, 60 patients with otosclerosis were enrolled in this study, including 17 males and 43 females. Mean age of the participants was 42.78±1.4 years. According to our findings, 54.2% of the studied patients had mixed hearing loss, and 70% had tinnitus. Moreover, the Schwartz sign was observed to be negative in all the patients. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, gender and some audiological characteristics of patients were associated with the risk of otosclerosis

Keywords

• Otosclerosis
• Audiometry
• Hearing loss
• Schwartz sign
• Air-bone gap