Kim JY, et al. - Authors gauged the potential relationship between idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) and affective disorders using nationwide representative cohort sample data. They noted a correlation of ISSNHL with an increased incidence of affective disorders, specifically depression and anxiety. Hence, patients with ISSNHL should be monitored carefully and to reduce their risk of depression and anxiety disorder, specific precautions ought to be taken.

Methods

• Researchers used a nationwide propensity score-matched cohort sample from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database from 2002 through 2013, which comprises data from approximately 1 million patients.
• A total of 1425 patients with ISSNHL and 7125 individuals without ISSNHL were included and were matched using propensity score matching, according to sociodemographic factors and enrollment year.
• In order to calculate the incidence, survival rate, and hazard ratio (HR) of developing affective disorders (anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder) for each group, survival analysis, the log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used.

Results

• Findings suggested that out of the total study population of 8550 (51.5% female), affective disorders were developed in 961 during the 11-year follow-up: 225 in the ISSNHL group (15.8%) and 736 in the comparison group (10.3%).
• As per data, a total of 96,885.5 person-years (81,177.4 person-years in the comparison group and 15,708.1 person-years in the ISSNHL group) were examined.
• In the ISSNHL group, the incidence of affective disorders was 14.3 per 1000 person-years and 9.1 per 1000 person-years in the comparison group.
• Experts noted that after adjustment for other factors, affective disorders were developed in individuals with ISSNHL more frequently than those in the comparison group (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.30-1.75).
• They found that among the affective disorders, in patients with ISSNHL, the HR of developing depression (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.44-1.91) and anxiety disorder (HR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.56-2.05) but not bipolar disorder (HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.54-1.70), was significantly greater.