Hearing loss in school-aged children.

BACKGROUND

Hearing loss is a common disability affecting 5% of the world's population. A lack of opportune diagnosis affects both the individual and society. In order to develop public health policies in the field of hearing health, countries must have information about epidemiology.

AIMS/

OBJECTIVES

In this review, we describe the information available about prevalence and incidence of hearing loss in school-aged children.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

Review of the literature in PubMed.

RESULTS

Reported prevalence of hearing loss in school-aged children varied between 0.2% and 7.8%. Several factors could explain the discrepancy in numbers such as definition of hearing loss, cause, and the inclusion of high-frequency hearing loss. The rate of delayed-onset hearing loss at the age of six years old varied between 0.6 and 0.8 per 1000.

CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: The prevalence of hearing loss in school-aged children varied between 0.2% and 7.8%, and the rate of delayed-onset hearing loss at the age of six years old varied between 0.6 and 0.8 per 1000.