Are Lipid Profiles and Obesity Risk Factors for SSNHL?

Running head: REPORT ASSIGNMENT 1
Computer Lab 7: Are Lipid Profiles and Obesity Risk Factors for SSNHL?
By (Name of Student)
(Institutional Affiliation)
(Date of Submission)
Instructions for Make-up Report Assignment (optional)
Introduction
Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL) is a
condition affecting the inner ear that is defined as
hearing loss of more than 30 decibels on three
consecutive frequencies over three days. The
cause of the disease is currently unknown,
though a promising theory is impairment
of micro- vascular circulation to the
cochlea, an organ of the inner ear. This
1. Read the outline for this report assignment.
2. During the lab session, perform the analyses needed to address the main question and the specific
research questions in R Studio, using what you have learned in previous labs.
3. Carefully look at the model report and check list (grading rubric) to see what type of report is
expected.
4. Write a report of your study (ca. 2 pages plus up to 3 figures or tables, word limit 800 – 1200
words, see check list).
5. Save your file in MS Word format (.doc or docx) and give it the following name:
MakeupReport_Utorid.doc, where you substitute your Utor-ID for “Utorid”.
6. Submit your file on Quercus > Assignments > Make-up Report.
Deadline: Mon March 25, end of day.
7. A grace period of 1 week (April 1) applies. If the assignment is handed in after grace period, it
will not be marked.

2
REPORT ASSIGNMNET 2
theory is based on the hypothesis that the cochlea
is supplied by a terminal artery, and if this artery
is clogged or impaired, the resulting oxygen
deficiency can damage the functionality of the
cochlea. To examine the role circulation might
have in SSNHL, cardiovascular risk factors such
as obesity and lipid profiles are the prime
suspects.
http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/
cochlear.html

REPORT ASSIGNMNET 3
Lee et al. (2015) conducted a study to determine if lipid profiles and obesity affect the prevalence
and prognosis of SSNHL in order to provide evidence for the cardiovascular theory discussed
above. This study was a case-controlled study with 324 hospitalized SSNHL patients and 972
control subjects. The cases included all patients diagnosed with SSNHL between January 2009
and February 2012 at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital in Korea. Patients with a history
of hearing loss or with complications that were known to cause hearing loss were excluded from
the study. Data for the control group were obtained from the Korean National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2009 – 2010, from which three control
subjects were matched for each case subject. As a result of this matching, case and control group
showed no statistically significant differences in gender, age, height or underlying diseases. For
your analysis you will look at cardiovascular risk factors such as BMI and triglyceride. For BMI,
the classes are Underweight, Normal, Overweight, and obese (the last two are combined. For
triglyceride, the classes are Normal, High, and Very High
Data
The variables included in the dataset are Body Mass Index (BMI) and Triglyceride (TG). The
data has been classified into ordinal categories consistent with use in current medical literature
(see tables below). ‘Case’ indicates the number of patients with SSNHL, and ‘Control’ indicates
patients without SSNHL.
BMI Class Range Case Control
Underweight < 23.0 kg/m2 12 43
Normal 23.0 – 27.5 kg/m2 194 655
Overweight or obese ≥27.5 kg/m2 118 272
TG Class Range Case Control