J Audiol Otol.  2022 Jul;26(3):142-146. 10.7874/jao.2021.00654.

Association Between Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire-7 Scores and Eustachian Tube Function Test Results in Symptomatic Patients With a Normal Drum

• Moon S
• Lee Y
• Jung J
• Moon IS
• Bae SH

• KMID: 2531426
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7874/jao.2021.00654

Abstract

Background and Objectives
We investigated the clinical validity of and correlation between the Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire-7 (ETDQ-7) scores and the eustachian tube function test (ETFT) results in patients with a normal drum.
Subjects and Methods
The study included 49 patients (93 ears) with unilateral or bilateral ear fullness over >3 months. All patients were administered the ETDQ-7 survey and underwent the ETFT on the same day. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the association between the results were statistically analyzed.
Results
ETDQ-7 scores were not significantly correlated with the ETFT results or with middle ear pressure. ETDQ-7 scores in patients with eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) were significantly higher than those in patients with normal ETFT results (p=0.039) when ETD was defined as a pressure change <10 daPa on the ETFT. The area under the ROC curve was 0.631, with a sensitivity of 37.0% and specificity of 89.4%.
Conclusions
The ETDQ-7 has limited clinical significance in patients with ETD but a normal drum. Therefore, concomitant objective tests should be performed to diagnose patients with ETD.

Keyword

Eustachian tube; Middle ear ventilation; Tympanic membrane; Middle ear; Tympanometry