Objective: To conduct a 14-year nationwide study on the epidemiologic incidence in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Design: Retrospective cross-sectional design. Study sample: Data of patients hospitalised with the diagnosis of SSNHL from 2000 to 2013, extracted from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Results: In total, 31,258 patients were included. The mean age was 50.30 ± 16.70 years. Males (53.5%) were more commonly diagnosed with SSNHL than females (46.5%). The patients most commonly presented with SSNHL were in the age group of 45-64 years. The crude incidence of SSNHL from 2000 to 2013 was 9.76 per 100,000 people per year. The annual incidence rate shows a steady increased from 5.15 in 2000 to 13.97 per 100,000 people in 2013 with a statistical significance (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This 14-year nationwide study indicated an increased incidence rate of SSNHL. This necessitates the development of additional treatment modalities to enhance the prognosis and the clarification of the underlying mechanism of this enigmatic disease.
Keywords: Epidemiology; incidence; medical insurance; sudden hearing loss.