A Prospective Study to Elucidate the Efficacy of 4 Oral Prednisolone Regimens in Acute Acoustic Trauma.

Noise induced hearing loss affects around 5% of the population and acoustic trauma to military personnel accounts for 30% of all injuries inflicted during active service. Initial treatment for acoustic trauma involves administration of steroids, however there are no studies regarding oral steroid regimens for best outcomes. Comparing and elucidating the benefits of four oral steroid regimens on hearing gain in patients with acute acoustic trauma. A prospective study of 4 different steroid regimens was done in 200 soldiers from July 2014 - July 2020. In the first group, oral Prednisolone 60 mg was administered for 6 days, in the second group for 8 days, in the third group for 10 days and in the fourth group for 12 days. Medication was tapered over the next 5 days in all the groups. Data analysed included demographics, Pure Tone Audiograms at admission and at 4 weeks, time of reporting to hospital, onset of treatment and type of treatment given. Multivariate linear regression model was done to consider the risk factors responsible for average hearing gain at all pure tones. Box-and-whisker plot, Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test, Kruskal Wallis test, Reciever Operating Characteristic curve were used to analyse the independent samples. p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Age, time of onset of prednisolone therapy and acoustic trauma due to blast or gunshot injury did not show correlation (R