Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 18;18(8):4299.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18084299.

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

Edyta Pilka  1 , W Wiktor Jedrzejczak  1 , Krzysztof Kochanek  2 , Malgorzata Pastucha  1 , Henryk Skarzynski  2
Affiliations

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

Edyta Pilka et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

(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.

Keywords: TEOAE; hearing screening; otoacoustic emissions; pure tone audiometry; tympanometry.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Average hearing thresholds for Group_u (urban) and Group_r (rural) divided into normal hearing (pass) and hearing loss (refer) subgroups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average SNR values for TEOAE results for Group_u (urban) and Group_r (rural), broken down into those that met the OAE presence criteria (pass) and those that did not (refer). Data are shown for global (global = SNR for the whole broadband TEOAE signal) as well as for half-octave frequency bands.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization Deafness and Hearing Loss. [(accessed on 6 June 2019)]; Available online: http://www.who.int/newsroom/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss.
    1. Cho Lieu J.E. Speech-language and educational consequences of unilateral hearing loss in children. Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2004;130:524–530. doi: 10.1001/archotol.130.5.524. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Olusanya B.O., Ruben R.J., Parving A. Reducing the burden of communication disorders in the developing world: An opportunity for the millennium development project. JAMA. 2006;296:441–444. doi: 10.1001/jama.296.4.441. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Le Clercq C.M.P., Labuschagne L.J.E., Franken M.C., Baatenburg de jong R.J., Luijk M.P.C.M., Jansen P.W., van der Schroeff M.P. Association of slight to mild hearing loss with behavioral problems and school performance in children. JAMA Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2020;146:113–120. doi: 10.1001/jamaoto.2019.3585. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Faber C.E., Grøntved A.M. Cochlear implantation and change in quality of life. Acta Otolaryngol. 2000;120:151–153. doi: 10.1080/000164800454251. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources