Association Between Weather and Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Nationwide Study in South Korea

This study aimed to analyze the impact of weather conditions on the incidence of SSNHL through a large-scale population-based study of more than 360,000 SSNHL episodes in South Korea over 12 years.

This study analyzed data from the Health Insurance Reviews and Assessment Service of South Korea, including 366,627 SSNHL cases diagnosed between July 2007 and December 2019. Seasonal variations in incidence were assessed using a multiple general linear model. Individual meteorological factors were matched to the diagnostic date, and generalized estimating equations (GEE) and vector autoregression moving average with an exogenous regressor (VARMAX) models were applied to assess their associations with incidence. To capture the combined influence of meteorological conditions, K-means clustering was performed using temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind speed; subsequent associations between cluster types and SSNHL incidence were then analyzed.

Seasonal variations remained significant, with peak risk observed in summer (p < 0.001). High temperature was consistently correlated with SSNHL across both the VARMAX (p = 0.0001) and GEE models (p < 0.0001). The weather type characterized by high temperature, humidity, and precipitation had the highest SSNHL risk (p = 0.0386).

This study provides evidence that hot and humid weather conditions are associated with increased SSNHL risk. These findings offer scientific support for developing preventive strategies and public health guidelines, particularly amid increasing climate variability.