A Cochrane review included 3 studies with a total of 253 subjects. One trial (n=21) showed a lack of effect of oral steroids in improving hearing compared with the placebo control group (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.85). The second trial (n=129) showed a significant improvement of hearing in 61% of the patients receiving oral steroid and in only 32% of the patients from the control group (RR 1.30, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.86). The third trial (n=103) also showed a lack of effect of oral steroids in improving hearing compared with the placebo control. Only one study declared that no patients suffered from adverse effects of the steroid treatment.
Comment:The quality of evidence is downgraded by study quality (inadequate allocation concealment), imprecise results (limited study size for each comparison) and inconsistency (heterogeneity in patients and interventions).