Table 2.
Audiometric Findings and Patient-reported Outcomes for 1,410 Survivors of Cisplatin-Treated Germ-Cell Tumors
| Characteristic | No. (%) |
|---|---|
| Audiometric findings | |
| Audiometrically-defined hearing loss (0.25-12 kHz) a | |
| None, ≤ 20dB | 312 (22.1) |
| Mild, 21-40dB | 342 (24.3) |
| Moderate, 41-55dB | 205 (14.5) |
| Moderately severe, 56-70dB | 284 (20.1) |
| Severe/profound, ≥ 71dB | 267 (18.9) |
| Type of hearing loss | |
| None | 312 (22.1) |
| Pure sensorineural | 810 (57.5) |
| Pure conductive | 11 (0.8) |
| Mixed | 277 (19.7) |
| Patient-reported adverse healtd outcome (AHO) | |
| Difficulty hearing b | |
| Not at all | 904 (65.2) |
| A little | 309 (22.3) |
| Quite a bit | 122 (8.8) |
| Very much | 51 (3.7) |
| Problems hearing speech-in-background-noise c | |
| No | 919 (69.4) |
| Yes | 406 (30.6) |
| Use hearing aid d | |
| No | 1366 (98.3) |
| Yes | 23 (1.7) |
| Tinnitus (ringing in ears) e | |
| Not at all | 802 (57.7) |
| A little | 373 (26.9) |
| Quite a bit | 107 (7.7) |
| Very much | 107 (7.7) |
| Hypertension and on prescription medication f | |
| No | 1222 (88.8) |
| Yes | 154 (11.2) |
| Hypercholesterolemia and on prescription medication g | |
| No | 1240 (88.9) |
| Yes | 155 (11.1) |
| Diabetes and on prescription medication h | |
| No | 1335 (96.7) |
| Yes | 45 (3.3) |
| Cardiovascular disease i | |
| No | 1345 (97.8) |
| Yes | 31 (2.2) |
| Use of medications for anxiety and/or depression j | |
| No | 1287 (91.3) |
| Yes | 123 (8.7) |
| Other | |
| Noise exposure k | |
| No | 802 (57.9) |
| Yes | 582 (42.1) |
| Self-reported healtd l | |
| Excellent | 246 (17.6) |
| Very good | 585 (41.9) |
| Good | 467 (33.5) |
| Fair/poor | 97 (6.9) |
Abbreviations: AHO, adverse health outcome.
Hearing loss was defined using American Speech-Language-Hearing Association criteria (ASHA) classification (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) ; Frisina et al. 2016) for frequencies of 0.25 to 12 kHz with HL defined as thresholds at any frequency that exceeded 20 dB for either ear. Among 267 participants with severe/profound hearing loss, 238 and 29 participants had severe (71-90 dB) and profound (>90 dB) hearing loss, respectively.
Difficulty hearing was assessed with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy 20-item quality-of-life questionnaire (EORTC-CIPN-20) on the basis of symptoms experienced over the past 4 weeks (Postma et al. 2005). This AHO was not available for 24 participants.
Problems hearing speech-in-background-noise was defined if patients answered “yes” to the following question “Problems hearing words, sounds, or language in crowds?” Data for problems hearing speech-in-background-noise was not available for 28 participants and 57 participants stated to be unsure about it.
Hearing aid use information was not available for 21 participants. Among 23 participants using a hearing aid, 5 and 18 reported using hearing aid for one ear and both ears, respectively.
Tinnitus was assessed with the Scale for Chemotherapy-Induced Long-Term Neurotoxicity (SCIN) questionnaire on the basis of symptoms experienced over the past 4 weeks (Oldenburg et al. 2006). This AHO was not available for 21 participants.
Hypertension and on prescription medication defined as answering “Yes” to (1) have you ever been diagnosed with high blood pressure and “Yes, current” to (2) have you ever taken prescription medications for high blood pressure (including current use) (Chunkit Fung et al. 2017). This AHO was not available for 34 participants.
Hypercholesterolemia and on prescription medication defined as answered “Yes, current” to the following question: have you ever taken prescription medications for high cholesterol (Chunkit Fung et al. 2017). This AHO was not available for 15 participants.
Diabetes and on prescription medication defined as answering “Yes” to either of the following questions: (1) diabetes requiring insulin or (2) diabetes requiring tablets or pills (Chunkit Fung et al. 2017). This AHO was not available for 30 participants.
Includes coronary artery disease, heart failure, or cerebrovascular disease. This AHO was not available for 34 participants.
Based on patient-reported prescription medications taken for at least the past 4 weeks. Medication indication was classified as used for anxiety and/or depression according to both (1) its pharmacological class and (2) if patients indicated its use was for anxiety and/or depression. Participants could report use of more than one medication for anxiety and/or depression. Medications used by 123 participants include alprazolam (n=10), bupropion (n=11), buspirone (n=2), citalopram (n=9), clomipramine (n=1), clonazepam (n=21), desvenlafaxine (n=1), duloxetine (n=8), escitalopram (n=25), fluoxetine (n=8), fluvoxamine (n=1), lorazepam (n=9), mirtazapine (n=2), nortriptyline (n=1), paroxetine (n=12), sertraline (n=17), trazodone (n=5), and venlafaxine (n=12).
Noise exposure information was not available for 26 participants. This include 15 participants who did not reply to questions related to work-related noise exposure and non-work related noise exposure, 1 patient who answered “no” to work-related noise exposure, but did not reply to the question regarding non-work related noise exposure, and 10 patients who answered “no” to non-work related noise exposure, but did not reply to the question regarding work-related noise. Among 582 patients reporting noise exposure, 216, 151, and 215 had work-related only, non-work-related only, and both work-related and non-work-related noise exposure, respectively.
Self-reported health not stated for 15 participants. Among 97 participants with self-reported rated as “fair or poor,” 86 and 11 participants indicated fair and poor heath, respectively.