Hearing Assessment of Kindergarten Children in Mangalore
1261-1265
Correspondence
Dr.Ashok Kumar Kavitha,Asso.Prof.,Dept. of ENT,Father Muller Medical College,Kankanady,Mangalore, 575002,Karnataka,(India)Ph:0824-2238182E-mail: drashokkumarj@gmail.com
Identification of hearing loss proves vital at any age for health considerations. In school, hearing loss may interfere with learning and if undetected, it can cause poor school performance. This study was conducted to assess the hearing status of 339 preschool children attending 6 kindergarten schools in Mangalore. Each child underwent an otoscopic examination, followed by tuning fork tests and pure tone audiometry. Otoscopic findings were found to be significant in 217(64.01%) children. After the audiological examination, 37 (10.91%) children were found to have conductive hearing loss and none had sensorineural hearing loss. Out of the 31 children with middle ear disease, only 11 (35.48%) were detected to have hearing impairment. Prevalence of hearing impairment and otitis media was higher in rural school children than in urban schools.