[The onset of sudden deafness and Bell's palsy--statistical analysis]

Existing studies on sudden deafness and Bell's palsy have shown no statistically significant differences in the numbers of patients by the times of the onsets, namely, days of the week, weeks of the month, months of the year and seasons of the year. However, accumulation of collective data in various areas and years may produce averaged data. Correlation between the occurrence of sudden deafness and that of Bell's palsy has not been studied so far. The yearly differences in the onsets of these diseases for the past 10 years were investigated using the Kendall's coefficient of concordance. In sudden deafness, very slight but statistically significant differences were found, when the numbers of patients and the onsets were analyzed by monthly basis, trimonthly basis (Nov-Jan, Feb-Apr, May-July and Aug-Oct) and quarterly basis. In Bell's palsy, no statistically significant differences were found in the times of onset of Bell's palsy and that of sudden deafness.