Prevalence And Pattern Of Hearing Loss At A State Tertiary Health Facility In Damaturu, North-eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Hearing loss being a hidden disability attracts less sympathy from the public as well as governmental and non governmental organizations.Objective: The Objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and pattern of hearing loss among patients seen at the out patient unit of Ear, Nose and Throat clinic of the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective study of all registered patients with hearing impairment seen at the department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Head and Neck Surgery of the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, Damaturu from 1st January, 2018 to 31st December, 2018. Case files were retrieved and reviewed. Data was extracted and entered into a Proforma. Extracted data include socio-demographic information, mode of presentation, examination findings, diagnosis, investigations done, treatment offered and outcome. The generated data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Seventy four, out of the total 1268 patients seen at the department of Ear, Nose and Throat clinic within the period under review, had hearing loss making a hospital prevalence of hearing loss of 5.8%. Median age of the participants was 20 years (range 2months-80years). Middle ear infections accounted for majority of the aetiologic factors and most patients presented with bilateral, moderate mixed hearing loss. Most patients had ear dressing to achieve dryness while 6 had tympano-mastoidectomy. Conclusions: The prevalence of hearing loss is low, with most patients presenting with ear discharge. The pattern found in the majority of the patients is bilateral moderate mixed hearing loss