Abstract
A representative sample of Grade 1 (first year school entry) schoolchildren in Swaziland were surveyed during a single week to determine the prevalence of ear and hearing disorders: 79.8% had both normal ears and normal hearing, 16.8% had an ear disorder, but 80% of them had normal hearing. The most common disorder was impacted wax, with a prevalence rate of 74 1000 . Middle ear disorders were common and the prevalence rate for children with active middle ear disease was 30 1000 ( 17 1000 having a hearing loss), and for children with inactive ear disease, the prevalence was 21 1000 ( 5 1000 having a hearing loss); 8 1000 children were found to have a sensorineural hearing loss, 5.3 1000 unilateral and 2.1 1000 bilateral. Improved treatment of acute otitis media, which is also common in the pre-school age group, could reduce the sequelae of the disorder, which has a deleterious effect on hearing and impairs educational achievement once the children enrol at school.
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