Concomitant diseases and their effect on disease prognosis in Meniere’s disease: diabetes mellitus identified as a negative prognostic factor

Abstract

Objective: To study comorbidities and their effect on the disease progression in Meniere’s disease (MD).

Methods: Retrospective study on 350 definite MD patients diagnosed according to AAO-HNS 1995 criteria using hospital records and postal questionnaire.

Results: The prevalence of migraine, hypothyroidism, allergies, coronary heart disease and autoimmune diseases was more common in MD patients than reported in the general population of Finland. Diabetes mellitus was associated with both more severe hearing impairment (p = .033) and more frequent vertigo (p = .028) in MD patients. The number of concomitant diseases was associated with more frequent vertigo (p = .021).

Conclusions: A patient’s concomitant diseases, especially diabetes, should be treated effectively because they might affect the progression of MD. Further studies on the effects of concomitant diseases on MD prognosis are needed.

Chinese abstract

目的：研究合并症及其对梅尼埃病（MD）病程的影响。

方法：回顾性研究根据AAO-HNS 1995标准, 使用医院记录和邮政问卷诊断的350例MD患者。

结果：偏头痛、甲状腺功能减退、过敏、冠心病和自身免疫性疾病在MD患者中的患病率比芬兰普通人群中报道的多。 糖尿病与MD患者的较严重听力损伤（p = 0 .033）和较频繁的眩晕（p = 0.028）都相关。 伴随疾病的数量与更频繁的眩晕相关（p = 0.021）。

结论：患者的伴随疾病, 特别是糖尿病, 应该有效地加以治疗, 因为它们可能会影响MD的发展。 需要进一步研究伴随疾病对MD预后的影响。

Keywords:

• Meniere’s disease
• diabetes mellitus
• vertigo
• comorbidity

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the patients for their active participation in the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation and the Finnish Foundation for Ear Diseases.