Prevalence of hearing loss in children following bacterial meningitis in a tertiary referral hospital

BMC Research Notes

Dalton Wamalwa¹  Peter Masinde⁴  Herbert Ouma Oburra²  Benson Wahome Karanja³ 

[1] Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Nairobi, P. O. Box 19676-00202, Nairobi, Kenya;Department Surgery, University of Nairobi, P. O. Box 30197-00100, GPO, Nairobi, Kenya;University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 2209-00202, KNH, Nairobi, Kenya;ENT Department, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 20723-00202, Nairobi, Kenya

关键词: Fever;    Positive CSF culture;    Cranial nerve neuropathy;    Seizures;    Coma score;    Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL);    Kenyatta national hospital;    Hearing tests;   

Others  :  1134308
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-0500-7-138

 received in 2013-03-26, accepted in 2014-02-19,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

This study aimed to examine hearing function in a group of children aged between the ages of six months and twelve years admitted with bacterial meningitis so as to determine the prevalence and degree of sensorineural hearing loss in them. This prospective study was conducted in the audiology unit and paediatric wards of Kenyatta National Hospital, KNH.

Methods

The study involved 83 children (49 males and 34 females) between the ages of six months and twelve years admitted with bacterial meningitis. The median age for the children examined was 14 months (range from 5 to 120 months). They were sequentially recruited and at discharge following treatment, underwent age-appropriate hearing testing to evaluate presence and degree of hearing loss which was analyzed. The study was limited by the absence of otoacoustic emission and auditory brainstem responses testing by excluding the significant numbers of children below six months of age admitted with bacterial meningitis.

Results

Thirty six of the 83 children (44.4%) were found to have at least a unilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss during initial audiologic testing. Of the children with hearing loss, 22 (26.5%) had mild or moderate sensorineural hearing loss and 14 (16.9%) had severe or profound sensorineural hearing loss.

Conclusions

Sensorineural hearing loss was shown to be highly prevalent in children treated for bacterial meningitis. There is therefore a need for objective hearing assessment in infants and young children following bacterial meningitis and further studies involving larger population sizes.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Karanja et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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