Optimal dosage of methylprednisolone for the treatment of sudden hearing loss in geriatric patients: a propensity score-matched analysis

PLoS One. 2014 Nov 10;9(11):e111479. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111479. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

We aimed to compare the treatment outcomes and the occurrence rates of adverse events associated with different steroid regimens in geriatric patients (aged 65 years or older) with unilateral idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). After thorough medical chart reviews of 109 patients with ISSNHL between May 2006 and December 2013, we performed a propensity score-matched analysis using previously known prognostic factors, steroid regimens, and other cointerventions. Patients were divided based on their steroid regimens into group I (which initially received 48 mg of methylprednisolone daily with a subsequently tapered dose) and group II (which initially received 24 mg of methylprednisolone daily with a subsequently tapered dose). We compared final hearing and the occurrence of adverse events between the two groups. As a result, 20 pairs of propensity score-matched patients (n = 40) were enrolled. Group I patients showed better final hearing levels compared with group II patients (42.00 ± 22.35 dB and 57.38 ± 26.40 dB, respectively), although this difference was marginally significant (p = 0.058). Based on the comparative analysis of each of the frequencies in the final audiograms, lower hearing thresholds at 2 KHz were observed in group I (p = 0.049). There was no significant difference in the occurrence of adverse effects between the two groups (p>0.05). In conclusion, conventional steroid regimens produced adverse event occurrence rates that were similar to those of low-dose treatment but may also have produced superior hearing recovery. The use of steroid dose reduction in geriatric patients with ISSNHL is not preferable to conventional steroid regimens.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Hearing / drug effects*
  • Hearing Loss, Sudden / drug therapy*
  • Hearing Tests
  • Humans
  • Methylprednisolone / administration & dosage*
  • Methylprednisolone / adverse effects*
  • Methylprednisolone / therapeutic use
  • Propensity Score
  • Sensory Thresholds / drug effects
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Methylprednisolone

Grants and funding

This research was supported by EMBRI Grants 2013 EMBRI-DJ-0005 from Eulji University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, and had a role in the preparation of the manuscript.