2006 Volume 49 Issue 4 Pages 373-380
The Acute Profound Deafness Research Committee of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Walfare conducted an epidemiological survey in Kanagawa and Iwate Prefectures to determine the number of patients treated for acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss between April 2004 and March 2005. Based on the committee's findings, the incidence of acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss was estimated to be 42.8 per 100000 persons in Kanagawa Prefecture and 65.7 per 100000 persons in Iwate Prefecture. The age distributions showed definite peaks in the fourth decade in both men and women with a mean age of 37.7 years. The sex ratio (men vs. women) was 0.33. The overall curative ratio was 61.0%. The incidence of patients who developed Meniere disease was 1.8%. The curative ratio was higher in patients who were under 39 years of age than in those who were over 40 years.
