Prevalence and Etiologies of Hearing Loss and Communicative Disorders in Siblings of Children with Deafness

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to estimate the prevalence of hearing impairment and communicative disorder among siblings of deaf children. It also intends to identify etiologies and risk factors of hearing loss to establish the epidemiological data in this population. Sample: 622 siblings of the pupils with deafness were subjected to questionnaire and audiometric test. 396 siblings completed the audiometric test. Design: The study used the survey research design. Tool: A 24 item questionnaire was prepared to elicit required information to fulfill the need of the research. Results: The prevalence of hearing impairment and communication disorder was 26.51% and 16.67% respectively. The study shows that there is huge populations that remain undiagnosed in spite having significant indicators of hearing loss. The study finds positive association between hearing loss and family history of deafness. Conclusion: The study underlines the need to increase professional and parental awareness about hearing impairment. Further the study also identified the risk indicators of hearing loss in siblings, this may be used to convince the parents, and hopefully this would improve parental suspicion and increase their demand for audiological testing.