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A definitive study on the prevalence of adult unilateral hearing loss and hearing aid rehabilitation is lacking in Korea. The purpose of our study was to investigate the prevalence of adult unilateral hearing loss and the factors associated with hearing aid use in patients with unilateral hearing loss in South Korea. We obtained data from 2009 to 2012 from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES), a cross-sectional, nationwide and population-based survey in the Republic of Korea. We analyzed the prevalence and associated factors of unilateral hearing loss and hearing aid adoption by univariable and multivariable analysis. Unilateral hearing loss was defined as pure tone average � 41 dB in the worse hearing ear, and < 41 dB in the other ear assessed at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 kHz. From 2009 to 2012, 33,252 individuals participated in the KNHANES. Among them, the number of patients with unilateral hearing loss was 1632 (5.55%) and the prevalence of hearing aid adoption in unilateral hearing loss was 1.56%. We also compared the factors between hearing aid users and non-users. Occupational status (OR 3.759, 95% CI 1.443-9.804), the hearing threshold in the better ear (OR 1.088, 95% CI 1.029-1.151), and hearing threshold in the worse ear (OR 1.031, 1.005-1.058) were found to affect the adoption of hearing aids. The prevalence of noise exposure at work in hearing aid users was significantly lower than the prevalence of noise exposure at work in those with no hearing aid. The prevalence of hearing aid use in patients with unilateral hearing loss in Korea is very low compared to other countries. Public health education is needed to increase public awareness of unilateral hearing loss, hearing aid adoption and its continued usage. Auditory rehabilitation should be actively recommended to patients with unilateral hearing loss.

Background and Objectives Inlay butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty makes the graft easy, and reduces operating time. The present study aimed to investigate the outcomes of microscopic versus endoscopic inlay butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty. Subjects and Methods In this retrospective study, the outcomes of 63 patients who underwent inlay butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty with small to medium chronic tympanic membrane perforation were evaluated. Twenty-four patients underwent conventional microscopic tympanoplasty and 39 underwent endoscopic tympanoplasty. The outcomes were analyzed in terms of the hearing gain and graft success rate. Results The surgical success rate was 95.8% in the patients who underwent conventional microscopic tympanoplasty and 92.3% in those who underwent endoscopic tympanoplasty. In both groups of patients, the postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) was significantly lower than the preoperative ABG. There were no significant differences between the preoperative and postoperative ABG values in either group. Conclusions Endoscopic inlay tympanoplasty using the butterfly cartilage technique appears to be an effective alternative to microscopic tympanoplasty and results in excellent hearing.