Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42223617›Full record

Observational studyEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2026

Disease-specificity in correlations between speech audiometry, hearing-related quality of life, and varying calculation methods for pure tone average in middle ear diseases.

Ivo Grueninger, Julia van de Loo, Sara Alekuzei, Kevin Karl Hansen, Aviva Henze, Jennifer Spiegel, Daniel Polterauer, Maike Neuling, Hans N C Eckel, Marcel Mayer and 7 more

Abstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Comments on "Disease-specificity in correlations between speech audiometry, hearing-related quality of life, and varying calculation methods for pure tone average in middle ear diseases".European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Ivo GrueningerDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, Schwanebecker Chaussee 50, 13125, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-6804-4718
Julia van de LooMedical Faculty, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, D-50937, 50924, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-3556-3738
Sara AlekuzeiDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-0850-5916
Kevin Karl HansenMedical Faculty, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, D-50937, 50924, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5028-0600
Aviva HenzeDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, Schwanebecker Chaussee 50, 13125, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-0662-8664
Jennifer SpiegelDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6187-0195
Daniel PolterauerDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5008-7595
Maike NeulingDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-4628-1446
Hans N C EckelMedical Faculty, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, D-50937, 50924, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6947-9836
Marcel MayerMedical Faculty, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, D-50937, 50924, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9963-1109
Jan Christoffer LuersMedical Faculty, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, D-50937, 50924, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8273-2234
Jens Peter KlußmannMedical Faculty, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, D-50937, 50924, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8223-7954
Martin CanisDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5637-4891
Joachim MüllerDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-4434-0732
Martin WalgerMedical Faculty, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, D-50937, 50924, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3035-1624
Tobias RaderDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7250-2833
Kariem SharafDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany. Kariem.Sharaf@uk-koeln.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7799-4005

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis study examined whether different methods for calculating pure tone average (PTA) yield clinically relevant differences in correlations with speech audiometry and hearing-related quality of life (QoL) in conductive and mixed hearing loss. Additionally, we investigated whether these associations vary among distinct middle ear pathologies: otosclerosis, acute otitis media (AOM) and chronic otitis media (COM).

methodsIn an ambispective cohort study at a tertiary referral center, 220 ears were analyzed. 194 ears were collected retrospectively. 26 patients were recruited prospectively. Inclusion criteria were adult age, confirmed diagnosis, near-normal bone conduction and conductive hearing loss without prior middle ear surgery. Pure-tone and Freiburg speech audiometry were analyzed along with the SSQ12 questionnaire in prospective patients. Multiple air conduction (AC) and air-bone gap (ABG) - PTA configurations were compared using linear regression and ANCOVA.

resultsAcross all cohorts, PTA values strongly correlated with speech recognition at 65 dB SPL and with 50% number recognition thresholds (R

conclusionsPTA calculation methods yield comparable correlations with speech understanding; inclusion of 3 or 4 kHz does not alter results meaningfully. Disease-specific discrepancies underscore the need for nuanced interpretation of PTA-speech relationships and support integrating both PTA and QoL measures in patient assessment. The study was conducted under clinical trial registration number DRKS00037758.

Indexed as

Audiometry, Pure-ToneAudiometry, SpeechHearing Loss, ConductiveHearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-SensorineuralOtitis MediaOtosclerosisQuality of LifeAdultAgedAuditory AcuityBone ConductionChronic DiseaseFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedAAO-HNS guidelineConductive hearing lossMixed hearing lossOtitis mediaOtosclerosisPure tone averageQuality of life

Identifiers

PMID42223617
PMCPMC13615081

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.