The correlation of hearing prognosis and caloric test results in Meniere’s disease: a follow up study

Abstract

Background Hearing loss is important in the diagnosis and treatment of Meniere’s disease (MD). However, little is known about the factors associated with hearing changes in MD. Aims/objectives This study aimed to investigate the correlation between hearing prognosis and caloric test (CT) results in MD. Material and methods Ninety consecutive patients diagnosed with unilateral definite MD underwent pure tone audiometry (PTA) and CT at initial visits, and were re-tested PTA at the 6-month follow-up. Results Fifty-three of ninety MD patients (58.89%) had abnormal CT results. The change of PTA (cPTA = initial PTA-last PTA) was negatively correlated with canal paresis (CP) values (overall association p = 0.032 and non-linear association p = 0.413). Multivariate linear model showed that as the CP value changed from 0 to 1, the cPTA decreased by −13.31 dB (95% CI: −24.03, −2.6) (p = 0.016). Stratified analysis found that the association was present in MD patients of Stage 1 and 2 (p < 0.05) but not in patients of Stage 3 and 4 (p > 0.05). Conclusions and significance Elevated CP values may be linked to worse hearing outcomes in MD, especially in Stage 1 and 2 patients. Conducting a caloric test at the initial consultation may aid in assessing hearing regression in MD.