Hearing loss among inmates of a juvenile correctional facility in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND

Good hearing is essential to learning and rehabilitation of adolescent and young adults in juvenile correctional facilities. Hearing screening programme is not commonly in place for this incarcerated group.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate hearing threshold among inmates of a juvenile correctional facility in Nigeria and compare pattern of hearing loss with a control group.

METHODS

A total of 135 inmates and equal number of age and sex matched control responded to interviewer-administered questionnaire followed by otoscopy and audiometry.

RESULTS

Mean age of inmates was 19 years ±2.0, while that of control was 18yrs ± 2.5. (p-value 0.077). Four (3%) inmates had bleeding from the ear; otoscopy revealed traumatic tympanic membrane perforation in 2(1.5%) of them. Prevalence of hearing loss was 19.2% and for disabling hearing loss it was 1.4%. Conductive hearing loss was the most common 33(24.4%). Inmates had consistently worse mean hearing thresholds than controls across all frequencies tested in both ears (p-value <0.001).

CONCLUSION

Hearing loss is prevalent among inmates of juvenile correctional facility. Rehabilitation programme should be balanced with detail attention to health needs of inmates; including pre-admission and periodic hearing screening.