Auditory Screening Results in School Age Children of Three District of Tehran Using Pure Tone Audiometry, Tympanometry and Otoscopy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Audiology, School of Paramedical Sciences, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

2 Department of Audiology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Purpose:
Screening is a method for differentiating abnormality from normal population. In different studies of school age children, there are different cases of hearing loss and middle ear abnormalities. Considering the effects of hearing loss and middle ear abnormality in children, this study has evaluated several methods of hearing screening
Methods:
A total of 1160 (n=2320 ears) 7 to 11 years old children screened in school with case history, otoscopy and audiometry. Also, 269 individuals (538 ears) were assessed with tympanometry.
Results:
The mean and standard deviation of age were 8.69 and 1.26, respectively. The results of case history and audiometry were normal in 99% of all subjects, however, there were more abnormal findings (5 to 10%) in otoscopy and tympanometry. This result shows a high ratio of middle ear abnormality in school age children.
Conclusion:
This study showed low amount of hearing loss in school age children because of infant hearing screening and school entry screening program. However, there were higher amount of middle ear abnormality. Using the otoscopy and tympanometry for detecting these abnormalities is suggested.

Keywords


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