Evaluation of hearing among kindergarten children in Jazan (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Abstract:Introduction: Hearing loss among kindergarten children is considered as a major health problem especially when there is a defi ciency in routine hearing screening during the clinical examination. The aim of the study was to detect any pattern of hearing loss among kindergarten children in Jazan (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). Methods: A total of 1220 kindergarten students in Jazan (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) were subjected to meticulous hearing evaluation using otological examination, Tuning fork tests, pure tone audiometry (PTA), speech audiometry, and tympanometry. Results: We found that 18 kindergarten students had type C tympanogram (Eustachian tube dysfunction), 28 had type B tympanogram (secretory otitis media with conductive hearing loss), 4 had chronic otitis media with conductive hearing loss, and 6 had mild sensorineural hearing loss. Conclusions: Early detection and eradication of hearing loss improves quality of life outcomes of children which reduces the incidence of social burden from unrecognized hearing loss.

Prevalence of hearing loss and health vulnerability in children aged 25 to 36 months: an analysis of spatial distribution

“…This information converges with a similar study conducted in 87 Chilean children aged 3 to 5 years, in which 15% of the sample had conductive hearing loss (18) . Other similar studies (5,(26)(27)(28) also showed that conductive loss was the most recurrent among preschoolers.…”

Prevalência de perda auditiva e vulnerabilidade a saúde em crianças de 25 a 36 meses: uma análise da distribuição espacial

“…Este dado está em convergência com estudo similar realizado no Chile com 87 crianças na faixa etária entre 3 a 5 anos, no qual 15% da amostra apresentaram perda auditiva do tipo condutiva (18). Outros estudos similares (5,(26)(27)(28) também mostraram que a perda condutiva apresentou maior ocorrência entre pré-escolares.…”

Subclinical conductive hearing loss significantly reduces otoacoustic emission amplitude: Implications for test performance

“…Specifically, DPOAEs have shown utility as an objective means of identifying normal and hearing impaired ears, such as for use in newborn hearing screening programs or evaluating other difficult-to-test populations [3][4][5][6], estimating hearing threshold [7][8][9][10], differentiating sensorineural and conductive hearing loss (CHL) [10][11][12], objectively quantifying conductive hearing loss [13][14][15][16], differentiating cochlear and neural pathology for the diagnosis of auditory neuropathy/synaptopathy [17], and monitoring for deleterious side-effects of ototoxic medications [18,19]. Unfortunately, as many otologic conditions prevalent in childhood are characterized by CHL [20][21][22][23] and because CHL can significantly impair interpretation of DPOAE results [24][25][26][27], the full clinical utility of DPOAEs often goes unrealized in pediatric cases. This study was conducted to better define the relationship between CHL magnitude and expected DPOAE amplitude, and in so doing, provide the clinician a basis for moving from a binary 'present' or 'absent' interpretation model to one informed by the systematic impact of CHL on DPOAE findings.…”