Published online November 1, 2006
PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 5 November 2006, pp. 1842-1851 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-3168)
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ARTICLE

Slight/Mild Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Children

Melissa Wake, MBChB, MDa,b, Sherryn Tobin, BAa,b, Barbara Cone-Wesson, MA, PhDc, Hans-Henrik Dahl, PhDb,d, Lynn Gillam, MA, PhDe, Lisa McCormick, MClinAudf, Zeffie Poulakis, DPsycha,b, Field W. Rickards, PhDg, Kerryn Saunders, FRACPa, Obioha C. Ukoumunne, MSc, PhDb,h and Joanne Williams, PhDa,b,i

a Centre for Community Child Health
h Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit
i Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia
b Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Australia
c Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
d Hearing Research Group
e Department of Philosophy
f Department of Otolaryngology
g Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

OBJECTIVE. The goal was to determine the prevalence and effects of slight/mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss among children in elementary school.

METHODS. A cross-sectional, cluster-sample survey of 6581 children (response: 85%; grade 1: n = 3367; grade 5: n = 3214) in 89 schools in Melbourne, Australia, was performed. Slight/mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss was defined as a low-frequency pure-tone average across 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz and/or a high-frequency pure-tone average across 3, 4, and 6 kHz of 16 to 40 dB hearing level in the better ear, with air/bone-conduction gaps of <10 dB. Parents reported children's health-related quality of life and behavior. Each child with slight/mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, matched to 2 normally hearing children (low-frequency pure-tone average and high-frequency pure-tone average of ≤15 dB hearing level in both ears), completed standardized assessments. Whole-sample comparisons were adjusted for type of school, grade level, and gender, and matched-sample comparisons were adjusted for nonverbal IQ scores.

RESULTS. Fifty-five children (0.88%) had slight/mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Children with and without sensorineural hearing loss scored similarly in language (mean: 97.2 vs 99.7), reading (101.1 vs 102.8), behavior (8.4 vs 7.0), and parent- and child-reported child health-related quality of life (77.6 vs 80.0 and 76.1 vs 77.0, respectively), but phonologic short-term memory was poorer (91.0 vs 102.8) in the sensorineural hearing loss group.

CONCLUSIONS. The prevalence of slight/mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss was lower than reported in previous studies. There was no strong evidence that slight/mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss affects adversely language, reading, behavior, or health-related quality of life in children who are otherwise healthy and of normal intelligence.

Key Words: child development • language • hearing loss • prevalence • outcomes

Abbreviations: SNHL—sensorineural hearing loss • LPTA—low-frequency pure-tone average • HPTA—high-frequency pure-tone average • HRQoL—health-related quality of life • CI—confidence interval • NHANES—National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey • HHANES—Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey • UNHS—universal newborn hearing screening • PTA—pure-tone average • HL—hearing level

Accepted Jul 11, 2006.


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