Introduction & Objective: In recent years mental health attracts attention of many researchers, and severe emotional stress that can interfere in creation of different organic diseases is one of the most prominent of this aspects. Sudden hearing loss (S.H.L.) is one of these disorders that could followed after stress and eventually may heal completely, relatively or lead to permanent deafness. S.H.L. could influence on interpersonal relationships and in this way could change quality of life negatively, so enough and appropriate attention is necessary. In this research by determination of level of stress we intended to study relationship between mental health and incidence of S.H.L.

Materials & Methods: In this case – control study 65 patients that referred to otolaryngology services of Hamadan during 2005-2006 with S.H.L. (case group) compared to 89 healthy subjects (control group). Control group were free from any systemic diseases and were matched from sex and age aspects to the case group. In case group after complete audiometric evaluation and confirmation of S.H.L, stress level was assessed using GHQ-28 questionnaire. This questionnaire contained 28 questions in 4 different fields: somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social problems and depression. Linkert scoring method was used for scoring of questionnaires and all data were analyzed using T-Test and chi-square test.

Results: During 4 months incidence of S.H.L. in referred patients were 5.1%, significant statistical relationships between S.H.L. and level of stress (P<0.001) and severity of hearing loss and level of stress (P<0.05, r =0.34) were found. The most common audiometric pattern was downward slopping pattern (56.92%). Evaluation of level of stress between two sex groups did not show any significant difference (P<0.05). Conclusion: Stress can be known as one of the predisposing factors of S.H.L. and may be possible to control by paying more attention to the role of self-awareness and education of life skills. In this way reduction of level of stress may be effective in prevention of S.H.L. in some cases.