Assessment of the Hearing Status of School-Age Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Mid-Eastern Poland

(1) Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of hearing loss in school-age children from rural and urban areas of mid-eastern Poland using standard audiological tests—pure tone audiometry (PTA), impedance audiometry (IA), and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). (2) Methods: Data...

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Main Authors: Edyta Pilka, W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak, Krzysztof Kochanek, Malgorzata Pastucha, Henryk Skarzynski
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4299
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spelling doaj-8444939a80bf40a3ab01bb7595c95af62021-04-18T23:01:30ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-04-01184299429910.3390/ijerph18084299Assessment of the Hearing Status of School-Age Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Mid-Eastern PolandEdyta Pilka0W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak1Krzysztof Kochanek2Malgorzata Pastucha3Henryk Skarzynski4Department of Experimental Audiology, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Experimental Audiology, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Experimental Audiology, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, Poland(1) Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of hearing loss in school-age children from rural and urban areas of mid-eastern Poland using standard audiological tests—pure tone audiometry (PTA), impedance audiometry (IA), and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). (2) Methods: Data were collected from a group of 250 children aged 8 to 13, made up of 122 children from urban areas and 128 children from rural areas of mid-eastern Poland. Hearing was assessed in each of the subjects by means of PTA, IA (tympanometry), and transient-evoked OAEs (TEOAEs). Otoscopy was also performed. (3) Results: There were significantly fewer abnormal results in children from urban than rural areas: they were, respectively, 10.1% and 23.1% for IA, 3% and 9.7% for PTA, and 17.3% and 31.8% for TEOAEs. For hearing-impaired ears in rural areas (failed TEOAE), hearing thresholds were, on average, 11.5 dB higher at 0.5 kHz than for children in urban areas. Comparison of each PTA result with the corresponding IA showed that all cases of hearing loss were related to malfunction of the middle ear. (4) Conclusions: The results of all three hearing tests were significantly worse in children from rural areas compared to those from urban areas. This indicates that audiological healthcare in rural areas needs improvement and that universal hearing screening programs for school-age children would be helpful.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4299pure tone audiometryotoacoustic emissionsTEOAEtympanometryhearing screening
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Edyta Pilka
W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak
Krzysztof Kochanek
Malgorzata Pastucha
Henryk Skarzynski
spellingShingle Edyta Pilka
W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak
Krzysztof Kochanek
Malgorzata Pastucha
Henryk Skarzynski
Assessment of the Hearing Status of School-Age Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Mid-Eastern Poland
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
pure tone audiometry
otoacoustic emissions
TEOAE
tympanometry
hearing screening
author_facet Edyta Pilka
W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak
Krzysztof Kochanek
Malgorzata Pastucha
Henryk Skarzynski
author_sort Edyta Pilka
title Assessment of the Hearing Status of School-Age Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Mid-Eastern Poland
title_short Assessment of the Hearing Status of School-Age Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Mid-Eastern Poland
title_full Assessment of the Hearing Status of School-Age Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Mid-Eastern Poland
title_fullStr Assessment of the Hearing Status of School-Age Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Mid-Eastern Poland
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of the Hearing Status of School-Age Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Mid-Eastern Poland
title_sort assessment of the hearing status of school-age children from rural and urban areas of mid-eastern poland
publisher MDPI AG
series International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
issn 1661-7827
1660-4601
publishDate 2021-04-01
description (1) Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of hearing loss in school-age children from rural and urban areas of mid-eastern Poland using standard audiological tests—pure tone audiometry (PTA), impedance audiometry (IA), and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). (2) Methods: Data were collected from a group of 250 children aged 8 to 13, made up of 122 children from urban areas and 128 children from rural areas of mid-eastern Poland. Hearing was assessed in each of the subjects by means of PTA, IA (tympanometry), and transient-evoked OAEs (TEOAEs). Otoscopy was also performed. (3) Results: There were significantly fewer abnormal results in children from urban than rural areas: they were, respectively, 10.1% and 23.1% for IA, 3% and 9.7% for PTA, and 17.3% and 31.8% for TEOAEs. For hearing-impaired ears in rural areas (failed TEOAE), hearing thresholds were, on average, 11.5 dB higher at 0.5 kHz than for children in urban areas. Comparison of each PTA result with the corresponding IA showed that all cases of hearing loss were related to malfunction of the middle ear. (4) Conclusions: The results of all three hearing tests were significantly worse in children from rural areas compared to those from urban areas. This indicates that audiological healthcare in rural areas needs improvement and that universal hearing screening programs for school-age children would be helpful.
topic pure tone audiometry
otoacoustic emissions
TEOAE
tympanometry
hearing screening
url https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4299
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