BACKGROUND: Presbyacusis is the most common type of hearing loss, often having profound effects on the quality of life in old age. The objectives of this study were: To analyse of the effect of demographic factors on presbyacusis in Sri Lanka.To quantify the effect of non-demographic risk factors on presbyacusis. METHOD: An observational cross-sectional study was carried out involving all the patients who presented to the National Hospital ENT clinic with hearing loss between April 2007 and April 2010. Patients whose pure-tone audiometry results were suggestive of sensorineural hearing deficit and whose tympanometry testing did not show any middle ear problems were assessed using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Among the 567 participants studied, the mean age was 63.4yrs. Fifty eight percent were females. The majority of the patients were from the Colombo district (59.3%), however, participants came from ten districts of Sri Lanka. Most of the study participants (64.2%) were married and living with their partners, but 24.7% were widowed and the rest were either unmarried or divorced. 6.1% had communication difficulties leading to disrupted social relationships and 21% felt that hearing impairment (HI) had adversely affected their psychological well-being. The onset of impaired hearing, as perceived by the patients initially and later confirmed by pure-tone audiometry and tymanometry, had occurred at an average age of 62.9yrs. CONCLUSION: There was no significant association between presbyacusis and other demographic factors such as gender, education level and marital status. A significant proportion of the participants had been widowed and that fact, too, can reduce their quality of life.
BACKGROUND: Presbyacusis is the most common type of hearing loss, often having profound effects on the quality of life in old age. The objectives of this study were: To analyse of the effect of demographic factors on presbyacusis in Sri Lanka.To quantify the effect of non-demographic risk factors on presbyacusis. METHOD: An observational cross-sectional study was carried out involving all the patients who presented to the National Hospital ENT clinic with hearing loss between April 2007 and April 2010. Patients whose pure-tone audiometry results were suggestive of sensorineural hearing deficit and whose tympanometry testing did not show any middle ear problems were assessed using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Among the 567 participants studied, the mean age was 63.4yrs. Fifty eight percent were females. The majority of the patients were from the Colombo district (59.3%), however, participants came from ten districts of Sri Lanka. Most of the study participants (64.2%) were married and living with their partners, but 24.7% were widowed and the rest were either unmarried or divorced. 6.1% had communication difficulties leading to disrupted social relationships and 21% felt that hearing impairment (HI) had adversely affected their psychological well-being. The onset of impaired hearing, as perceived by the patients initially and later confirmed by pure-tone audiometry and tymanometry, had occurred at an average age of 62.9yrs. CONCLUSION: There was no significant association between presbyacusis and other demographic factors such as gender, education level and marital status. A significant proportion of the participants had been widowed and that fact, too, can reduce their quality of life.
Entities:
Keywords:
Presbyacusis; Quality of life.; Sri Lanka
Authors: Karen J Cruickshanks; Ted S Tweed; Terry L Wiley; Barbara E K Klein; Ronald Klein; Rick Chappell; David M Nondahl; Dayna S Dalton Journal: Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg Date: 2003-10