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Disease Related Morbidity and Quality of Life Impairment in Patients with Single Sided Deafness

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Abstract

Patients with single sided-deafness (SSD) have hearing deficits amounting to a handicap to their everyday quality of life and are likely to suffer serious social challenges. There is a significant gap in the “disability” aspect of SSD in literature. The study was undertaken to compare the quality of life of SSD patients in various domains with normal hearing individuals. 51 patients of SSD with pure sensorineural hearing loss with impaired ear having a pure tone average of more than or equal to 70 dB was compared with 50 subjects with normal hearing sensitivity. Pure tone audiometric testing and the english version of Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) were used to enumerate subjective advantage. Total average SSQ score across domains in patients (6.6 ± 1.2) was significantly poorer in comparison to the control group (8.4 ± 0.9). Based on SSQ, patients with SSD experience hearing disability in comparison to the control group (p < 0.01). The ratings of all the items in the SSQ subdomains were higher in the reference group than in the patient group. Individuals with single sided-deafness experience significant auditory disability in all the three domains of speech, spatial & qualities of hearing. Therefore, these patients should be strongly counselled for currently available treatment options.

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Acknowledgements

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Funding

The study was not supported by any funding agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Room no: 4063, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 110029, India

    Kapil Sikka, Tanvi Chaudhary, Mao Bhartiya, Hitesh Verma, Rakesh Kumar & Alok Thakar

  2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, Bhaktapur, Nepal

    Rijendra Yogal

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  1. Kapil Sikka
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  2. Rijendra Yogal
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  3. Tanvi Chaudhary
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  4. Mao Bhartiya
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  5. Hitesh Verma
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  6. Rakesh Kumar
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  7. Alok Thakar
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Correspondence to Kapil Sikka.

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The written informed consent was taken from each subject. The identity of subjects was not disclosed.

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All the authors have read and approved the paper for publication.

Data Protection, Confidentiality and Privacy

Participants are made aware that their identity and all information collected from them during the study will be kept strictly confidential and they are free to withdraw from the study at any stage without prejudice to their subsequent routine clinical treatment.

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All procedures performed in study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standard.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The study was conducted after receiving approval from AIIMS, New Delhi Institutional Ethics Committee.

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Sikka, K., Yogal, R., Chaudhary, T. et al. Disease Related Morbidity and Quality of Life Impairment in Patients with Single Sided Deafness. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 74, 356–362 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-021-02699-2

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