Hearing loss in Sao Tome and Principe: 2 years of humanitarian missions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34631/sporl.314Keywords:
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural, Malaria, Sao Tome and PrincipeAbstract
Introduction: Hearing is an important sense for the integration of an individual in the community; therefore the identification of factors associated with deafness is important. In this work we reveal the audiometric data verified during 2 years of Otorhinolaryngology humanitarian missions and the identification of possible risk factors for deafness.
Study design - Material and Methods: We evaluated all individuals who have sought audiology consultation in the course of humanitarian missions in Sao Tome and Principe from 2012 to 2014. All patients were observed by an ENT doctor, held earing evaluation by an audiologist and answered a clinical questionnaire in which risk factors were accessed (family history of deafness or co-sanguinity, previous clinical malaria, previous malaria treatment, gestational and peri-partum history, previous ear infections and history of head trauma). Data were processed and analyzed in IBM SPSS 20.0 database.
Results: Of the 721 observed individuals, 77 individuals were excluded because they do not contain audiological registration, obtaining 644 medical records for the study. We found a prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss of 35.7%, conductive deafness of 2.9% and 1.9% mixed. The remaining individuals were normal hearing (59.5%). From the normal hearing individuals, 26% had a unilateral deafness. Of the risk factors analyzed, the history of clinical malaria was the only risk factor that showed more association.
Discussion: Away from the expected values, particularly with regard to the type of deafness encountered, the prevalence of hearing loss in the study sample was high with sensorineural hearing loss as the most prevalent type. According to WHO in developing countries, conductive and mixed deafness were expected to have a higher prevalence Malaria and antimalarial treatment may be contributing to the development of deafness.
Conclusion: Deafness does not always have a single cause. A number of interacting factors may trigger the onset of deafness. In this paper, malaria seemed to be the most significant risk factor in association with sensorineural hearing loss in Sao Tome and Principe. Further studies are being made on the identification of other risk factors.
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