Löhler Jan, Walther Leif Erik, Hansen Fynn, Kapp Philipp, Meerpohl Jörg, Wollenberg Barbara, Schönweiler Rainer, Schmucker Christine
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Maienbeeck 1, 24576, Bad Bramstedt, Germany.
German Study Centre for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DSZ-HNO), Bonn, Germany.
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2019 Apr;276(4):945-956. doi: 10.1007/s00405-019-05312-z. Epub 2019 Feb 9.
Worldwide approximately 360 million people suffer from hearing impairment, 328 million of whom are adults. Up to now there has been no systematic evaluation of any representative epidemiological data on the prevalence of hearing loss among adults in Germany. The present paper is intended to investigate this within the framework of a systematic review.
A systematic literature search was carried out in electronic databases as well as by means of hand-searching. Studies published after 1975 and indicating the prevalence or incidence of hearing impairment among German adults were included. Study selection, data extraction and additional quality assessments were made by two independent reviewers.
By means of a systematic literature search it was possible to identify 6 sources, which provided solely cross-sectional data, whereby the reported data are based on a study population of between some hundred and 10 million people living in Germany. The prevalences ascertained showed a broad range of between 16% and 25% and varied according to age, study setting, definition of hearing loss and method of data capture. At present there are no utilizable data on the extent of the use of hearing aids.
The present review demonstrates clearly that evidence-based information relating to Germany can only be made on the basis of a clear definition of hearing loss within the framework of an up-to-date and representative epidemiological study carried out with appropriate methodology. In view of the high prevalence of illnesses causing hearing impairment and of the risks to health associated with untreated hearing impairment as well as of socio-economic costs, such an epidemiological study is of great social significance.
全球约有3.6亿人患有听力障碍，其中3.28亿为成年人。迄今为止，尚未对德国成年人听力损失患病率的任何代表性流行病学数据进行系统评估。本文旨在通过系统评价对此进行研究。
在电子数据库以及通过手工检索进行系统的文献检索。纳入1975年以后发表的、表明德国成年人听力障碍患病率或发病率的研究。由两名独立审阅者进行研究选择、数据提取和额外的质量评估。
通过系统的文献检索，共识别出6个来源，这些来源仅提供横断面数据，所报告的数据基于居住在德国的数百至1000万人的研究人群。确定的患病率在16%至25%之间，范围广泛，并因年龄、研究环境、听力损失定义和数据收集方法而异。目前尚无关于助听器使用程度的可用数据。
本综述清楚地表明，只有在采用适当方法进行的最新且具有代表性的流行病学研究框架内，对听力损失进行明确定义，才能得出与德国相关的循证信息。鉴于导致听力障碍的疾病患病率很高，以及未经治疗的听力障碍对健康造成的风险和社会经济成本，这样一项流行病学研究具有重大的社会意义。
