[Risk factors involved in presbyacusis]

Abstract

Introduction: Presbyacusis is a disease whose prevalence tends to increase in Europe, due to the aging of the population. Our purpose is to evaluate the prevalence of presbyacusis, as well as the implication of sex, cardiovascular risk factors and relation with home and its geographical location.

Patients and method: We started a cross-sectional study with 61 patients coming from different retirement homes, being able to finally test 59 subjects, after two abandonments.

Results: The prevalence of presbyacusis was of 16.9%, predominating in female sex, although it was not a statistically significant association, with an average age at the moment of the study of 75.7 years. None of the presbyacusis patients referred smoking habits in the last 30 years, and only sporadic alcohol. A significantly negative statistical relation with the hypertension was verified. There was no significant statistical association with the location and type of home, neither with other risk factors.

Conclusions: The high prevalence of the disease is confirmed, without a real significant predominance in women. The time of evolution of the disease is variable at the moment of the diagnosis. We emphasized the absence of relation between the arterial hypertension, the consumption of tobacco and alcohol and presbyacusis, as well as the rest of studied risk factors.