Christopher Ndoleriire, Edward Turitwenka, Sabrina Bakeera-Kitaaka, Agnes Nyabigambo
Makerere University, College of Health Sciences, Department of ENT, P.O. Box 7072, Makerere College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2013 Feb;77(2):262-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2012.11.013. Epub 2012 Dec 1.
Hearing impairment is one form of disability in children living with HIV/AIDS. It greatly interferes with their language development, communication and performance. These are stressful to the children and their caretakers. With increasing availability of free anti-retroviral therapy, children with HIV/AIDS are living much longer. Therefore efforts must be made to reduce the disability resulting from hearing impairment among children living with HIV.
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, types and severity of hearing loss in HIV positive pediatric patients between 6 months and 5 years of age attending PIDC, Mulago Hospital Uganda.
This was a descriptive cross sectional study among 370 HIV/AIDS pediatric patients between 6 months and 5 years of age at PIDC Mulago. In this study, hearing impairment was defined as any auditory brainstem response (ABR) average threshold of over 25 dBnHL at frequencies of 500 Hz to 4000 Hz. This was done using a VIVOSONIC VIVOLINK ABR machine and a tympanogram was acquired from each ear. Systematic random sampling was carried out to reach individual participants. Proportions were used to estimate prevalence of hearing impairment in this age group.
A total of 370 participants were recruited, with mean age of 38 months and median age of 36 months. The ratio of male to female was 1:1. The majority 172/370 (46.5%) of the participants were of WHO stage III. The prevalence of hearing loss in the 6 months to 5 years HIV/AIDS positive patients was found to be 121/370 (33.0%). The majority 77/121 (64.0%) of the participants had sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Of these with SNHL 44% had mild (26-40 dBHL) hearing loss.
The prevalence of hearing among pediatric HIV/AIDS patients between the 6 months and 5 years was found to be high with sensorineural hearing loss being the most prevalent. Therefore HIV/AIDS paediatric patients should have routine screening for hearing impairment. A prospective cohort study should be designed to assess the risk of acquisition of hearing loss in children living with HIV.
听力障碍是感染艾滋病毒/艾滋病儿童的一种残疾形式。它极大地干扰了他们的语言发展、交流和表现。这对儿童及其照顾者来说压力很大。随着免费抗逆转录病毒疗法的可及性增加，感染艾滋病毒/艾滋病的儿童寿命延长。因此，必须努力减少感染艾滋病毒儿童因听力障碍导致的残疾。
本研究的目的是确定乌干达穆拉戈医院佩迪中心6个月至5岁的艾滋病毒阳性儿科患者中听力损失的患病率、类型和严重程度。
这是一项对穆拉戈佩迪中心370名6个月至5岁的艾滋病毒/艾滋病儿科患者进行的描述性横断面研究。在本研究中，听力障碍被定义为在500赫兹至4000赫兹频率下，任何听觉脑干反应（ABR）平均阈值超过25分贝听力级（dBnHL）。这是使用VIVOSONIC VIVOLINK ABR机器完成的，并从每只耳朵获取鼓室图。采用系统随机抽样来选取个体参与者。比例用于估计该年龄组听力障碍的患病率。
共招募了370名参与者，平均年龄为38个月，中位数年龄为36个月。男女比例为1:1。大多数参与者172/370（46.5%）处于世界卫生组织III期。在6个月至5岁的艾滋病毒/艾滋病阳性患者中，听力损失的患病率为121/370（33.0%）。大多数参与者77/121（64.0%）患有感音神经性听力损失（SNHL）。在这些患有感音神经性听力损失的患者中，44%患有轻度（26 - 40分贝听力级（dBHL））听力损失。
发现6个月至5岁的儿科艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者中听力障碍的患病率很高，感音神经性听力损失最为普遍。因此，艾滋病毒/艾滋病儿科患者应进行听力障碍的常规筛查。应设计一项前瞻性队列研究来评估感染艾滋病毒儿童获得听力损失的风险。
