An Observational Study to Compare Prevalence and Demography of Sensorineural Hearing Loss Among Military Personnel and C
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
An Observational Study to Compare Prevalence and Demography of Sensorineural Hearing Loss Among Military Personnel and Civilian Population Anil Raghavan1,2
•
Uma Patnaik1 • Ankush Singh Bhaudaria1
Received: 10 August 2020 / Accepted: 23 September 2020 Ó Association of Otolaryngologists of India 2020
Abstract To evaluate the pattern of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in patients attending ENT OPD in a military setup as well as to compare the incidence of hearing loss in Military Personnel with civilian population. This observational cross sectional comparative study was conducted over a period of April 2018 to July 2019. A total of 300 patients with hearing loss (HL) were included. Demographic characteristics along with laterality of sensorineural hearing impairment were compared between military personnel and civilians. Data was statistically compared between civilians and military personnel. A P-value of \ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. We report an overall prevalence of 3.78% SNHL in the ENT OPD. Specifically the prevalence of SNHL among military personnel was 2.17% and in civilian population was 4.83% (P \ 0.0001). The mean age of the military personnel was significantly less than civilians (62.53 ± 10.03 vs 65.98 ± 12.46, P = 0.003). There were 68% Males and 32% females. Significantly higher number of males were present in military group as all participants were males (100% vs 58.62%, P \ 0.0001). There was no significant difference in the laterality of SNHL between Military personnel and the civilian population with bilateral involvement being common in both populations. It can be concluded that bilateral SNHL type is the most common type of hearing impairment among military personnel as well as civilians complaining of HL. Males of 51–70 years are most affected with SNHL.
& Anil Raghavan [email protected] 1
Department of ENT, Military Hospital, Devlali, Nashik, India
2
Present Address: New Delhi, India
Keywords Civilians Hearing loss Military Sensorineural
Introduction Hearing loss is a significant health issue for the military personnel as well as civilians [1]. According to the recent WHO estimate, in 2018, nearly 466 million people (6.1% of the world’s population) had disabling hearing loss [2]. Over time, it is estimated to rise to 630 million by 2030 and to over 900 million by 2050 worldwide, among which 90% of the individuals with moderate-to-profound hearing impairment are found to reside in low- and middle-income countries [3]. The prevalence of hearing loss as well as tinnitus in military population are more as compared to the general public; thereby having an adverse effect on military performance [4]. As per a study conducted on the US Army soldiers visiting audiology clinics, among individuals with post-deployment diagnoses and non-deployment-related diagnoses, hearing loss was present in 68.6% and 4.0%, respectively [5]. One population-based study reported that annual incidence rates of hearing loss was between 19.3 and 22.2/1000; where the stu
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