The prevalence of hearing loss in the first high school students in Hamadan, western Iran

Because children learn to communicate by hearing sounds, a hearing loss (HL) will deteriorate their cognitive and speaking abilities and language learning. Early detection and intervention are important factors in the successful treatment of HL in children. HL is divided into two main groups: conductive hearing loss (CHL) and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL); the former is more prevalent in children and many of its causes are easy to detect and treat.
In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 1,446 children, aged 11-13 years, entering first-degree high school in the school year 2016, were randomly selected from two schools in Hamadan, western Iran, and their audiograms were studied. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics using SPSS 16.
Out of the 1,446 high school children examined in this study, 18 children (1.2%) suffered from HL (44.5% female and 55.5% male), 33% from CHL, and 67% from SNHL. Besides, 89% suffered from bilateral HL and 11% from unilateral HL.
Considering the prevalence of HL, especially SNHL, in this study in first-degree high school students of Hamadan, it seems vital to raise public awareness and early screening of ear diseases, which can lead to the detection and treatment in most cases.