Chakrabarti Suniti, Ghosh Nirmalya
Pratibandhi Kalyan Kendra, Hooghly, West Bengal India.
22 John Amery Drive, Stafford, ST17 9LZ UK.
Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2019 Nov;71(Suppl 2):1099-1106. doi: 10.1007/s12070-017-1187-1. Epub 2017 Aug 30.
There is pressing need for reliable information about prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss in children in India. Without this basic information it is difficult to plan services on a rational basis. In this stratified cross sectional study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of severe and profound sensorineural hearing loss in school children in West Bengal, India. We hypothesized that all children with severe or profound hearing loss in elementary schools (age 6-14 years) would be among those identified as 'children with special need' because of their marked problems with hearing, speech or communication. First stratum of our study included all 6-14 years old mainstream elementary school 'children with special need', with known or suspected hearing problem. Second stratum covered all 6-14 years old hearing impaired children attending special schools. Comprehensive audiological assessment of 10,763 'children with special need' in mainstream elementary schools identified 3984 children showing severe or profound SNHL (≥71 dB). A further 1022 children were identified with similar loss in special schools, giving a total of 5006 children with severe or profound sensorineural loss among a school population of 8,654,057, with estimated prevalence of 0.58 (CI 0.57-0.59) per 1000 children. This is the first large scale study of the epidemiology of severe and profound sensorineural hearing loss in school children in India. Although further studies are needed from other parts of India, in the interim, findings of this study can form the basis for planning resource allocation, service provision, investigation into etiology and prevention of sensorineural deafness in children in India.
印度迫切需要有关儿童感音神经性听力损失患病率的可靠信息。没有这些基本信息，就难以合理规划服务。在这项分层横断面研究中，我们旨在确定印度西孟加拉邦学童中重度和极重度感音神经性听力损失的患病率。我们假设，所有小学（6至14岁）中患有重度或极重度听力损失的儿童，都会因其在听力、言语或沟通方面的明显问题而被认定为“有特殊需要的儿童”。我们研究的第一层包括所有6至14岁、有已知或疑似听力问题的主流小学“有特殊需要的儿童”。第二层涵盖所有6至14岁在特殊学校就读的听力受损儿童。对10763名主流小学“有特殊需要的儿童”进行的全面听力学评估，确定了3984名患有重度或极重度感音神经性听力损失（≥71分贝）的儿童。在特殊学校又发现了另外1022名有类似听力损失的儿童，在8654057名学童中，共有5006名儿童患有重度或极重度感音神经性听力损失，估计患病率为每1000名儿童中有0.58（95%置信区间0.57 - 0.59）。这是印度首次对学童中重度和极重度感音神经性听力损失的流行病学进行大规模研究。尽管印度其他地区还需要进一步研究，但在此期间，本研究的结果可为印度儿童感音神经性耳聋的资源分配规划、服务提供、病因调查和预防提供依据。
