FIGURE LEGENDS
Figure 1. Pre- and postoperative hearing (air conduction
pure-tone average) among different types of chronic middle ear diseases.
Bold horizontal lines, means; whiskers, standard deviation. Ch.,
cholesteatoma; COM, chronic otitis media; w/, with; w/o, without.
Figure 2. Pre- and postoperative health-related quality of life
assessed by the ZCMEI-21 among different types of chronic middle ear
diseases. (A ) Preoperative ZCMEI-21 total scores. (B )
Postoperative ZCMEI-21 total scores. (C ) ZCMEI-21 total score
shifts. A negative value indicates a postoperative decrease in the
ZCMEI-21 total score suggesting an improvement in health-related quality
of life. The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is indicated
by the dotted line. Statistically significant differences between mean
pre- and postoperative ZCMEI-21 total scores are indicated by asterisks
(*, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p <
0.001; for exact p-values, see text). Bold horizontal lines, means;
whiskers, standard deviation. Ch., cholesteatoma; COM, chronic otitis
media; n. s., not significant; w/, with; w/o, without.
Figure 3. Pre- and postoperative assessment of single symptoms
among different types of chronic middle ear diseases. (A–B )
Pre- (A) and postoperative (B) ear discharge as assessed by question 2
(Q2) of the ZCMEI-21. (C–D ) Pre- (C) and postoperative (D)
vertigo/balance problems as assessed by question 5 (Q5) of the ZCMEI-21.
Bold horizontal lines, means; whiskers, standard deviation. Ch.,
cholesteatoma; COM, chronic otitis media; n. s., not significant; w/,
with; w/o, without.