OTTAWA, June 21 (UPI) -- Steroids are often used to treat sudden hearing loss, but there is little scientific evidence to support their use, finds a Canadian review.
Dr. Anne Elizabeth Conlin, of the University of Ottawa, and Dr. Lorne S. Parnes, of the University of Western Ontario, found 21 trials from 1966 to 2006.
"To our knowledge, no valid randomized controlled trial exists to determine effective treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss," the researchers conclude in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Systemic steroids cannot be considered the gold standard of treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss, given the severe limitations of the landmark study supporting their use."
The article cited as the landmark study for the use of steroids was not described as a randomized trial and therefore may have produced exaggerated treatment effects, according to the review. The authors suggest that this study also used inconsistent doses of steroids and did not measure outcomes at the same time for all participants.
"The study therefore does not inform the otolaryngologist of what dose of steroids to use, nor at what time after treatment to expect improvement," the review says.
