Althea Medical Journal. 2016;3(1) 43 Frequency and Clinical Characteristics of Tympanic Membrane Perforation Outpatients at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital in 2011–2013 Veronika Ratih M, 1 Sally Mahdiani, 2 Fenny Dwiyatnaningrum 3 1 Faculty of Medicine Universitas Padjadjaran, 2 Department of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Faculty of Medicine Universitas Padjadjaran/Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung, 3 Department of Anatomy and Biology Cell Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran Abstract Background: Tympanic membrane perforation is a hearing problem that has become a health problem in the society. In Indonesia, there are only a few studies regarding tympanic membrane perforation. This study was aimed to observe the frequency and clinical characteristics of tympanic membrane perforation patients. Methods: This was a descriptive study performed from August to September 2014. The data was taken retrospectively from medical records of tympanic membrane perforation patients at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital from January 2011 to December 2013. Results: Of 579 tympanic perforation patients, there were only 214 medical records met the inclusion criteria. The frequency of tympanic membrane perforation patients increased in 2011 it was 28%, in 2013 it was 37.6%. The number of male patients (53.3%) was higher than female patients’. Most patients were in productive age (83.2%). Most patients came with the chief complaint of discharge from ear (36.4%) and the most common etiology was infection (84.1%). Otological examination showed that most patients had unilateral perforation (73.8%). Based on the size of perforation, central perforation (52.3%) was the most common otological finding. From audiogram, most patients had conductive hearing loss (41.5%) with moderate degree of hearing loss (30.4%). Most patients were treated by medications (64.5%). Conclusions: The frequency of tympanic membrane steadily increases with clinical characteristic mostly in male patients in productive age admitted with chieft complain of discharge of ear. The most common etiology is infection. Majority of patients have unilateral central perforation that cause conductive hearing lost. [AMJ.2016;3(1):43–8] Keywords: Clinical characteristic, hearing lost, tympanic membrane perforation Correspondence: Veronika Ratih M, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jalan Raya Bandung-Sumedang Km.21, Jatinangor, Sumedang, Indonesia, Phone: +6285624248322 Email: veronika.ratih@gmail.com Introduction Hearing abnormality and deafness are still prevalent and have become a major problem in Indonesia. Globally, World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 250 million (4.2%) of world populations suffered from hearing abnormality in 2000, 75–140 million (30– 56%) of them were in South–East Asia. 1 One of the etiologies of hearing disturbance is tympanic membrane (TM) perforation.2 Incidence of TM perforation in the world is still unknown. However, according to the study conducted by Kaftan et al. 3 in Germany, the prevalence of chronic TM perforation was 0.45%. In England, United Kingdom 4 , Study of Hearing found that the prevalence of TM perforation in adult was 4.1%. Hearing disturbance has already become a health problem in society. 1 However, there is no available data yet regarding the prevalence or incidence of TM perforation in Indonesia, especially in West Java.Thus, the researcher is interested to do a study about the frequency of TM perforation. Moreover, the clinical characteristics of patients are also important to be studied. This study was conducted to observe the frequency and clinical characteristics of TM perforation, including the risk factors of perforation, clinical manifestations, audiogram results, and also the management. Methods This was a quantitative-descriptive study