Hearing loss configurations in low- and middle-income countries.

IF 1.8 3区医学 Q2 AUDIOLOGY & SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY

International Journal of Audiology Pub Date : 2025-03-06 DOI:10.1080/14992027.2025.2466746

John Newall, Rebecca Kim, Piers Dawes, Fadwa Alnafjan, Glyn Vaughan, Donna Carkeet, Heba Ghannoum, Bradley McPherson, Nitish Ranjan Patel, Megha Sasidharan, Nitin K Damam, S P Goswami, Geetha Chinnaraj, Dahlia Eka Sartika, Sara Alhanbali, Rebecca A Bartlett, Afzarini Hasnita Ismail, Mike C F Smith, Anup Ghimire, Shankar Shah, Norberto V Martinez, Hubert D Ramos, Ultima Angela Alparce, George A Tavartkiladze, Vigen Bakhshinyan, Maria Boboshko, Annette Kasper, Sione Pifeleti, De Wet Swanepoel, Herman C Myburgh, Caitlin Frisby, Pittayapon Pitathawatchai, Ahmet Atas, Bulent Serbetcioglu, Gonca Sennaroglu, Ozlem Konukseven, Suna Tokgoz Yilmaz, Meral Didem Turkyilmaz, Merve Batuk, Eyyup Kara, Duygu Hayir Senkaya, Gizem Babaoglu, Yesim Oruc, Melek Basak Ozkan, Merve Meral Cetinkaya, Aysenur Kucuk Ceyhan, Inci Adali

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: The majority of individuals with hearing loss worldwide reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but there is limited information regarding the characteristics of hearing loss in these regions. This descriptive study aims to address this knowledge gap by analysing audiogram patterns in LMIC populations. Greater knowledge about the properties of hearing loss in LMICs allows for improved planning of interventions.

Study sample: Retrospective data from 23 collaborating centres across 16 LMICs were collected. All participants were adults seeking help for hearing problems. A machine learning approach was utilised to classify the hearing threshold data and identify representative profiles. The study comprised 5773 participants.

Results: The results revealed mildly sloping audiometric patterns with varying severity. The patterns differed from previous studies conducted in high-income regions which included more steeply sloping losses. The findings also indicated a higher proportion of more severe levels of hearing loss.

Conclusions: These variations could be attributed to population-level differences in the causative mechanisms of hearing loss in LMICs, such as a higher prevalence of infectious disease-related hearing loss. The results may also reflect differences in health seeking behaviours. This study highlights the need for tailored, scalable, hearing interventions for LMICs.

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来源期刊

International Journal of Audiology 医学-耳鼻喉科学

CiteScore

4.90

自引率

14.80%

发文量

133

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： International Journal of Audiology is committed to furthering development of a scientifically robust evidence base for audiology. The journal is published by the British Society of Audiology, the International Society of Audiology and the Nordic Audiological Society.