It's often been said that a hospital stay can be dangerous to your health. A new study has once again confirmed the truth of that saying.

According to a report given at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting, an inpatient hospital stay can result in or worsen existing ear, nose, and throat disorders, even when the person is there for entirely unrelated reasons.

The authors of the study, "ENT Symptoms Run Rampant on the Wards," are Raymond Howard, M.D., Andrew Goldman, M.D., Marina Boruk, M.D., Maria Pallotta, P.A., and Krishnamurthi Sundaram, M.D., all from the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, State University of New York Medical Center at Brooklyn.

To learn more about the risks involved in hospital stays, the authors developed a survey, listing a variety of common ear, nose, and throat symptoms, and administered the questionnaire to a random sample of 557 inpatients at two hospitals in Brooklyn, New York. One was a large public city hospital, the other, a large private Jewish hospital.

The survey was conducted bed-by-bed, floor-by-floor. The study excluded patients in the intensive care units and post-anesthesia care units, those on ventilators or admitted for psychiatric service, and certain other categories.

All patients were asked to subjectively assess the degree of severity of each listed symptom during their hospital admission. The patients rated their symptoms on a scale of one to five, with a "one" meaning that they didn't experience the symptom during the hospitalization, and a "five" meaning that they were extremely bothered by the symptom. A severity score of three or greater was considered clinically significant.

More than half (62%) of the patients who completed the survey said they had at least one ear, nose, or throat (ENT) symptom; 54% said they had more than one symptom, and 230 (71% gave their symptoms a score of three or higher.

Particularly hard hit were older patients, 92% of whom experienced ear and hearing problems. Patients younger than 40 were found to have a predominance of nose symptoms, particularly nasal airway obstruction. The use of supplemental (non-humidified) oxygen delivered by a nasal tube had a profound outcome on patients with nose symptoms. The findings revealed that 123 patients had received oxygen therapy via nasal canula for greater than 24 hours during their hospital stay. Of that group, 56% said they had difficulty breathing through the nose, and 59% noted a decrease in their ability to smell and taste.

The researchers concluded that a substantial number of hospital inpatients experience ear, nose, and throat symptoms that cause significant distress. They point to a number of possible reasons for this, including the use of various hospital treatments that aggravate or cause the conditions.

SOURCE: "Ear, Nose, and Throat Symptoms Run Rampant in Hospital Wards," American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Sept. 10, 2001.