Changes in pattern of presentation of patients with unilateral vestibular schwannoma over two decades: Influence of cell phone use in early diagnosis

Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia · 2021 · Benefit · Low evidence

← Research stream

BenefitLow evidencePaper 896

Study snapshot

PublicationJournal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia · 2021

Study typecohort

Reported directionBenefit

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Changes in pattern of presentation of patients with unilateral vestibular schwannoma over two decades: Influence of cell phone use in early diagnosis Adeline Hephzibah, Sanjeev Kumar Pandey, V Rupa, Ranjith K Moorthy, Vedantam Rajshekhar. Changes in pattern of presentation of patients with unilateral vestibular schwannoma over two decades: Influence of cell phone use in early diagnosis. J Clin Neurosci. 2021 Dec;94:102-106. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2021.10.004. Highlights • Utility of cell phone usage in early detection of VS has not been studied. • Cell phone usage aided in detecting hearing loss in 50% of patients. • Majority of patients with VS still have severe hearing loss and large tumors. Abstract We aimed to study whether the increased use of cell phone in south Asia over the past two decades has impacted presentation of patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS). In this observational cohort study, data on cell phone use and severity of hearing loss and tumor size was collected using a questionnaire through a patient interview (n = 62) in consecutive patients with VS managed between 2017 and 2020. Association between cell phone use and severity of hearing loss and tumor size were studied and compared with our data published earlier when telephone use was not widely prevalent. 71% of the 62 patients (aged between 15 and 81 years) had large or giant VS. Pure tone audiometry showed moderately severe or profound hearing loss in 77.4%. Sixty (96.7%) patients used cell phones. 50% of patients complained of difficulty in using their cell phone because of hearing loss. Compared to the earlier era, a higher proportion consulted an ENT surgeon first for hearing loss (59.7% vs 26%; p = 0.0005) and had small or medium sized tumors (29% vs 8%; p = 0.008) with a smaller mean tumor size (3.3 vs 3.9 cm; p = 0.03). Increased cell phone use has led to earlier diagnosis of VS and smaller tumours in recent years when compared to an earlier era. However, the vast majority of patients continue to present with severe to profound hearing loss and large tumors. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Conclusions Increased cell phone use has led to earlier diagnosis of VS and smaller tumours in recent years when compared to data from the same institution published 15 years back. A greater proportion of patients now present with mild to moderate hearing loss, have smaller tumours and consult an otolaryngologist for their problem. However, the vast majority of patients continue to present with severe to profound hearing loss and large tumors necessitating patient and physician education to further improve awareness regarding the need for early screening of patients with unilateral/asymmetrical sensorineural hearing loss with PTA and neuroimaging.

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typecohort

Effect directionbenefit

PopulationConsecutive patients with unilateral vestibular schwannoma (VS) managed between 2017 and 2020 in South Asia (single institution)

Sample size62

ExposureNot supplied

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 74% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Among 62 VS patients (2017–2020), 96.7% reported cell phone use and 50% reported difficulty using their cell phone because of hearing loss. Compared with an earlier era from the same institution, a higher proportion consulted an ENT surgeon first for hearing loss (59.7% vs 26%) and a higher proportion had small/medium tumors (29% vs 8%) with a smaller mean tumor size (3.3 vs 3.9 cm). The authors conclude increased cell phone use contributed to earlier diagnosis, though most patients still presented with severe/profound hearing loss and large/giant tumors.

Outcomes measured

Severity of hearing loss (pure tone audiometry)
Tumor size (vestibular schwannoma; small/medium vs large/giant; mean size)
Initial consultation provider (ENT surgeon first)
Self-reported difficulty using cell phone due to hearing loss

Limitations

Observational design; cannot establish causality between cell phone use and earlier diagnosis
Cell phone use and related measures collected by questionnaire/interview (self-report)
Comparison is to previously published data from an earlier era rather than a concurrent control group
Exposure characteristics (e.g., duration/intensity, frequency band, SAR) not reported
Single-institution sample; generalizability may be limited

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "cohort",
  "exposure": {
    "band": null,
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Consecutive patients with unilateral vestibular schwannoma (VS) managed between 2017 and 2020 in South Asia (single institution)",
  "sample_size": 62,
  "outcomes": [
    "Severity of hearing loss (pure tone audiometry)",
    "Tumor size (vestibular schwannoma; small/medium vs large/giant; mean size)",
    "Initial consultation provider (ENT surgeon first)",
    "Self-reported difficulty using cell phone due to hearing loss"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Among 62 VS patients (2017–2020), 96.7% reported cell phone use and 50% reported difficulty using their cell phone because of hearing loss. Compared with an earlier era from the same institution, a higher proportion consulted an ENT surgeon first for hearing loss (59.7% vs 26%) and a higher proportion had small/medium tumors (29% vs 8%) with a smaller mean tumor size (3.3 vs 3.9 cm). The authors conclude increased cell phone use contributed to earlier diagnosis, though most patients still presented with severe/profound hearing loss and large/giant tumors.",
  "effect_direction": "benefit",
  "limitations": [
    "Observational design; cannot establish causality between cell phone use and earlier diagnosis",
    "Cell phone use and related measures collected by questionnaire/interview (self-report)",
    "Comparison is to previously published data from an earlier era rather than a concurrent control group",
    "Exposure characteristics (e.g., duration/intensity, frequency band, SAR) not reported",
    "Single-institution sample; generalizability may be limited"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.74,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "vestibular schwannoma",
    "acoustic neuroma",
    "cell phone use",
    "hearing loss",
    "tumor size",
    "early diagnosis",
    "pure tone audiometry",
    "ENT consultation"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "mobile-phones",
      "weight": 0.9,
      "reason": "Study evaluates association of cell phone use with presentation/diagnosis patterns in vestibular schwannoma patients."
    }
  ]
}

AI can be wrong. Always verify against the paper.

AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2021.10.004
PubMed: 34863422

Read the original paper →

Related papers

← Back to the Research Library