Association Between Hearing Loss And Cauliflower Ear in Wrestlers, a Case Control Study Employing Hearing Tests

Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study showing that the prevalence of hearing loss among cauliflower ears is higher than this rate among non-cauliflower ears confirmed by audiological tests. This emphasizes that, more preventive measures such as mandatory ear gear for wrestlers are required.,Results: Audiometric examination results at the frequency range of 0.5 - 8 KHz showed that the prevalence of hearing loss among cauliflower ears was higher than this rate among non-cauliflower ears. Also, the percentage of positive history of ear infections among cauliflower ears (8.4%) was about two times more than this finding among non-cauliflower ears (4.9%). This difference tended to be significant (OR: 1.86, P = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.98 - 3.53).,Objectives: To evaluate and to compare the prevalence of hearing loss among wrestlers with and without cauliflower ears employing hearing tests.,Patients and Methods: The subjects were randomly selected form 14 wrestling clubs in Tehran. Subjects were 201 wrestlers with cauliflower ears (100 wrestlers with one cauliflower ear and 101 wrestlers with two cauliflower ears) and 139 wrestlers without cauliflower ears. All the participants in this study were interviewed to collect information on demographic factors and medical history of risk factors and diseases related to hearing loss. The subjects in both groups underwent otoscopic and audiologic examinations.,Background: According to anecdotal findings, some wrestling coa...
Source: Asian Journal of Sports Medicine - Category: Sports Medicine Source Type: research