Characteristics and Factors Associated with Hearing loss (Deafness) in Children Attending the Medical City Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq

Background: Hearing loss (HL) is one of the commonest and neglected childhood disabilities. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), most of childhood hearing impairment is preventable. Studies showed that 31% of hearing impairment cases are caused by prenatal and postnatal infections, 17% are birth-related causes, 4% are ototoxic medications and about 8% related to other causes such as maternal substance abuse.
Objective: To review factors associated with HL in a sample of children attending the Medical City Hospital in the Pediatrics Outpatient Clinic and Auditory Clinic; including congenital, early, or late onset and to investigate risk factors associated with HL.
Methods: A cross sectional study, included children <15 years with hearing loss attending the Medical City Hospital in the Pediatrics Outpatient Clinic and Auditory Clinic during the period from the 1st of July 2021 till the 30th of October 2021.
Results: One hundred and one children with HL; 65.3% of them were males, 71.3% were preschoolers, 60.4% of them had family history of deafness, Severe deafness was found among 45.5% of children. Management was by Cochlear implantation for 60.4% of them and hearing aid for the rest. Causes of deafness were unknown in 39.6% of children, congenital among in 37.6%, acquired in 15.8% and mixed causes in 6.9%.
Conclusion: Hearing impairment is severe deafness in most of the children included in this study. Family history, congenital infections and otitis media were the major causes of hearing impairment. Finally, cochlear implant was the management of choice in the majority of these children.
Keywords: Hearing loss, cochlear implant, otitis media
Citation: Qasim MF, AbdulKareem MN, Issa MA. characteristics and factors associated with hearing loss (deafness) in children attending the Medical City Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi JMS. 2022; 20(1): 68-76. doi: 10.22578/IJMS.20.1.9