Ferrite Silvia, Mactaggart Islay, Kuper Hannah, Oye Joseph, Polack Sarah
International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
Trop Med Int Health. 2017 Apr;22(4):485-492. doi: 10.1111/tmi.12840. Epub 2017 Feb 7.
To estimate the prevalence and causes of hearing impairment in Fundong Health District, North-West Cameroon.
We selected 51 clusters of 80 people (all ages) through probability proportionate to size sampling. Initial hearing screening was undertaken through an otoacoustic emission (OAE) test. Participants aged 4+ years who failed this test in both ears or for whom an OAE reading could not be taken underwent a manual pure-tone audiometry (PTA) screening. Cases of hearing impairment were defined as those with pure-tone average ≥41 dBHL in adults and ≥35 dBHL in children in the better ear, or children under age 4 who failed the OAE test in both ears. Each case with hearing loss was examined by an ear, nose and throat nurse who indicated the main likely cause.
We examined 3567 (86.9%) of 4104 eligible people. The overall prevalence of hearing impairment was 3.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.8-4.6). The prevalence was low in people aged 0-17 (1.1%, 0.7-1.8%) and 18-49 (1.1%, 0.5-2.6%) and then rose sharply in people aged 50+ (14.8%, 11.7-19.1%). Among cases, the majority were classified as moderate (76%), followed by severe (15%) and profound (9%). More than one-third of cases of hearing impairment were classified as unknown (37%) or conductive (37%) causes, while sensorineural causes were less common (26%).
Prevalence of hearing impairment in North-West Cameroon is in line with the WHO estimate for sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of cases with known causes are treatable, with impacted wax playing a major role.
评估喀麦隆西北部丰东卫生区听力障碍的患病率及病因。
我们通过按规模大小成比例概率抽样法选取了51个群组，每组80人（各年龄段）。初始听力筛查通过耳声发射（OAE）测试进行。4岁及以上双耳OAE测试未通过或无法进行OAE读数的参与者接受手动纯音听力测定（PTA）筛查。听力障碍病例定义为：成人较好耳纯音平均听阈≥41 dBHL，儿童≥35 dBHL，或4岁以下儿童双耳OAE测试未通过。每位听力损失病例均由一名耳鼻喉护士进行检查，该护士指出主要可能病因。
我们检查了4104名符合条件者中的3567人（86.9%）。听力障碍的总体患病率为3.6%（95%置信区间[CI]：2.8 - 4.6）。0 - 17岁人群（1.1%，0.7 - 1.8%）和18 - 49岁人群（1.1%，0.5 - 2.6%）的患病率较低，然后在50岁及以上人群中急剧上升（14.8%，11.7 - 19.1%）。在病例中，大多数被归类为中度（76%），其次是重度（15%）和极重度（9%）。超过三分之一的听力障碍病例被归类为病因不明（37%）或传导性（37%）病因，而感音神经性病因较少见（26%）。
喀麦隆西北部听力障碍的患病率与世界卫生组织对撒哈拉以南非洲的估计一致。大多数已知病因的病例是可治疗的，耵聍栓塞起主要作用。
