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

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.