Quality-of-life assessment of Meniere's disease patients after surgical labyrinthectomy

Objective: To examine the impact of surgical labyrinthectomy on quality of life of Meniere's disease patients. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Otology subspecialty referral center. Patients: All patients with Meniere's disease who underwent surgical labyrinthectomy between 1998 and 2004 were selected. Fifty-three patients satisfied inclusion criteria. Completed questionnaires were obtained from 44 patients. Intervention (s): The Meniere's Disease Outcomes Questionnaire is a disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaire. It was used to assess the quality of life of patients before and after surgical labyrinthectomy. The questionnaire encompasses physical, mental, and social well-being domains of quality of life. Main Outcome Measure(s): Change in total quality-of-life score was used to assess the overall impact of surgical labyrinthectomy on subjective patient outcome. Individual quality-of-life domains were also assessed. Results: Forty-three of 44 respondents (98%) had improvement in total score after surgery. The one patient who demonstrated deterioration developed latent contralateral disease. Average preoperative and postoperative scores were 34 14 and 67 15, respectively (p < 0.001). All questions showed significant improvement with surgery (p < 0.001) except questions pertaining to memory (no change) and hearing loss (nonsignificant decrease in score). Conclusion: This study comprises the first patient-directed assessment of quality-of-life outcomes in Meniere's disease patients after labyrinthectomy. Despite the disadvantage of hearing loss, patients consistently reported significant improvement in all quality-of-life domains and do not report a significant loss of quality of life in terms of their hearing loss. Surgical labyrinthectomy remains a highly effective treatment for Meniere's disease patients.