Epidemiological considerations in sudden hearing loss: a study of 183 cases.

We have studied certain epidemiological problems not often encountered in the literature, involving patients with sudden hearing loss. We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study on 183 patients at the University of Padova and found that: age at the onset of the hearing loss incurred is closely associated with the presence of concomitant diseases; partial or total recovery of hearing is strongly predicated by the variables of age at onset and the interval between onset of hearing loss and the beginning of treatment given. We have also used polar-coordinate diagrams to show that cases of sudden hearing loss tend to be cyclic and are more prevalent in the central months of each season.