Tympanometric assessment among a select cohort of deaf students

Abstract

Background: Children and young adults with profound hearing impairment and/or deafness are equally at risk of developing other ear diseases such as otitis media with effusion (OME) and/or middle ear infections. Otoscopic diagnosis of middle ear effusion is often problematic, and clinicians' skills in that regard are notably variable. The objective of this study is to present the tympanometric findings among hearing-impaired students from a group of special schools for the hearing impaired in Kaduna metropolis. Participants and Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study conducted for 4 months between February and May, 2014. Students aged 7-18 years attending Kaduna State Special Education School for the deaf, Katsina road, and Demonstration School for the Deaf, Kawo, Kaduna, were recruited for the study. An interviewer-based questionnaire was developed to capture the student's demographic characteristics and clinical information. This was followed by ear examination and tympanometric tests. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software, version 16. Results: A total of 294 participants were recruited into the study group, and there were 173 males (58.8%) and 121 females (41.2%). The age of the participants ranged from 7 to 18 years. The mean age of the study group was 13.6 years with a standard deviation of ΁ 3.6 years. Forty-three (14.6%) of them had dull and retracted tympanic membranes while the rest had intact shiny tympanic membrane. Tympanometric test showed that 281 participants (89.5%) had type A tympanogram while types B and C accounted for 21 (7.1%) and 9 (3.1%), respectively. Among the 43 participants with dull and retracted tympanic membrane via otoscopic examination, 13 had type A tympanogram (normal) while the rest had middle ear disorders (type B and C tympanograms). Conclusion: Middle ear diseases such as OME and eustachian tube dysfunction were found among the study population. There is a need for the provision of regular awareness lecture and periodic ear examination to prevent, detect, and treat imminent otologic diseases.