Association Between Air Pollution and Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Nine-Year Retrospective Study

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Otolaryngology
• Public Health

Background:

• Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) is an acute auditory condition with diverse causes.
• Investigating environmental factors like air pollution is crucial for understanding SSHL etiology.
• This study focuses on the potential association between regional air quality and SSHL incidence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between ambient air pollution levels and the occurrence of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) cases.
• To analyze air quality data alongside SSHL diagnoses within a specific cohort.
• To determine if air pollutants are correlated with SSHL development.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective analysis of 223 patients diagnosed with SSHL between 2016 and 2025.
• Collection of monthly average air pollution data (PM10, SO2, PM2.5, NOx, NO, CO, NO2) from central monitoring stations.
• Exclusion of metabolic causes by an internal medicine specialist and calculation of cumulative risk by a public health specialist.

Main Results:

• A significant association was found between annual variations in air pollution levels and SSHL occurrence.
• Hearing thresholds showed significant improvement post-treatment across all frequencies, particularly at 2000 Hz.
• No statistically significant seasonal variation in SSHL case distribution was observed (p > 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Regional air pollution levels are associated with the occurrence of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL).
• Findings are hypothesis-generating due to the study's retrospective, single-centre design and ecological exposure assessment.
• Larger multicentre studies with individual exposure assessment are recommended to validate these findings and explore causality.