ABSTRACT
To analyze the risk factors causing the sensorineural hearing impairment and therefore the need for a careful directed approach towards diagnosis and better management of these patients. A prospective descriptive study. This study was carried out at ENT and Medicine departments of "The University Hospital, Faisalabad, over a period from July 2006 to June 2007. This study was carried out on 100 patients presenting with sensorineural hearing impairment of either sex having age ranging from 15 years to 80 years. The patients belonging to congenital hearing impairment, conductive hearing loss and mixed hearing impairment were excluded from the study. A detailed history, thorough general physical, systemic and ENT examination and necessary investigations revealed the cause in majority of the cases. The data was collected on a data collection proforma. Presbyacusis [37%] was the commonest cause of sensorineural hearing impairment in our series followed by metabolic disorders [24%] and ototoxic drugs [10%]. In 8% of the cases we could not identify the risk factor which was labeled as idiopathic. Sensorineural hearing impairment is just a symptom and not a diagnosis with a very diverse etiology and every case should be carefully and thoroughly investigated for the underlying risk factor so that a carefully directed approach towards better management of these patients could be possible