Introduction: Chronic otitis media affects millions of people worldwide. According to the classification by Bluestone and Kenna, non-cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media is considered the most common part of chronic otitis media, which has tympanic membrane perforation with episodes of intermittent otorrhea and hearing loss of different degrees. The association with conductive hearing loss is well known, however, the relationship with sensorineural hearing loss is still controversial in the literature; some studies show the relationship of this pathology with damage to the inner ear that brings a serious problem in terms of personal quality of life and social impairment.

Objective: To evaluate the association of sensorineural loss in patients with unilateral non-cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media in a tertiary hospital.

Methods: Quantitative cross-sectional study, retrospective analysis of data recorded in electronic medical records of patients undergoing unilateral tympanoplasty surgery between 1984 and 2019 at Hospital Governador Celso Ramos, Florianopolis.

Results: In 172 patients evaluated, sensorineural hearing loss was found in the ears diagnosed with non-cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media in 27.9% compared to the contralateral ear. Observed at middle frequencies, 2000Hz prevalence of 29.1%, that increases directly proportional to the increase in frequencies, reaching 58.7% at 4000Hz. There was an association with disease duration, perforation size and otorrhea (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Sensorineural hearing loss is associated with non-cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media and, the longer the duration of the disease, the worse the progression which starts in the middle frequencies and becomes even more prevalent in the higher frequencies. Reason for the importance of early surgical treatment.

Keywords: Otitis media; Hearing loss; Sensorineural hearing loss.