TY - JOUR
T1 - Ear health and hearing in urban Aboriginal children
AU - DeLacy, J.
AU - Burgess, L.
AU - Cutmore, M.
AU - Sherriff, S.
AU - Woolfenden, S.
AU - Falster, K.
AU - Banks, E.
AU - Purcell, Alison
AU - Kong, K.
AU - Coates, H.
AU - Curotta, J.
AU - Douglas, M.
AU - Slater, K.
AU - Thompson, A.
AU - Stephens, J.
AU - Sherwood, J.
AU - McIntyre, P.
AU - Tsembis, J.
AU - Dickson, M.
AU - Craig, J.
AU - Gunasekera, H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Objective: Evaluate ear health and hearing among urban Aboriginal children and quantify relationships with child, family and social factors. Methods: Baseline questionnaire and ear health examinations from 1430 children with diagnoses (0.5-18 years) attending Aboriginal Health Services enrolled in SEARCH. Ear health outcomes were Otitis Media (OM), and hearing loss (three-frequency average hearing loss >20dB) diagnosed using pneumatic otoscopy, tympanometry, and audiometry. Results: Half the children 0.5-3 years had OM (51.5%, 136/264). One third 0.5-18 years (30.4%; 435/1430) had OM, including 1.8% (26/1430) with perforation (0.8% chronic suppurative OM, 0.6% dry perforation and 0.4% acute OM with perforation). One quarter 0.5-18 years (25.7%; 279/1087) had hearing loss; 12.4% unilateral, 13.2% bilateral (70.6% with bilateral loss had concurrent OM). OM was associated with: younger age (0.5-<3 years versus 6-18 years) age-sex-site; adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR)=2.64, 95%, 2.18-3.19); attending childcare/preschool (aPR=1.24, 95%CI, 1.04-1.49); foster care (aPR=1.40, 95%CI, 1.10-1.79); previous ear infection/s (aPR=1.68, 95%CI, 1.42-1.98); and ≥2 people/bedroom (aPR=1.66, 95%CI, 1.24-2.21). Hearing impairment was associated with younger age (0.5-<6 years vs. ≥6 years aPR=1.89, 95%CI, 1.40-2.55) and previous ear infection (aPR=1.87, 95%CI, 1.31-2.68). Conclusions: Half the urban Aboriginal children in this cohort had OM and two-thirds with hearing impairment had OM. Implications for Public Health: Findings highlight importance of early detection and support for ear health, particularly in pre-school-aged children with risk factors.
AB - Objective: Evaluate ear health and hearing among urban Aboriginal children and quantify relationships with child, family and social factors. Methods: Baseline questionnaire and ear health examinations from 1430 children with diagnoses (0.5-18 years) attending Aboriginal Health Services enrolled in SEARCH. Ear health outcomes were Otitis Media (OM), and hearing loss (three-frequency average hearing loss >20dB) diagnosed using pneumatic otoscopy, tympanometry, and audiometry. Results: Half the children 0.5-3 years had OM (51.5%, 136/264). One third 0.5-18 years (30.4%; 435/1430) had OM, including 1.8% (26/1430) with perforation (0.8% chronic suppurative OM, 0.6% dry perforation and 0.4% acute OM with perforation). One quarter 0.5-18 years (25.7%; 279/1087) had hearing loss; 12.4% unilateral, 13.2% bilateral (70.6% with bilateral loss had concurrent OM). OM was associated with: younger age (0.5-<3 years versus 6-18 years) age-sex-site; adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR)=2.64, 95%, 2.18-3.19); attending childcare/preschool (aPR=1.24, 95%CI, 1.04-1.49); foster care (aPR=1.40, 95%CI, 1.10-1.79); previous ear infection/s (aPR=1.68, 95%CI, 1.42-1.98); and ≥2 people/bedroom (aPR=1.66, 95%CI, 1.24-2.21). Hearing impairment was associated with younger age (0.5-<6 years vs. ≥6 years aPR=1.89, 95%CI, 1.40-2.55) and previous ear infection (aPR=1.87, 95%CI, 1.31-2.68). Conclusions: Half the urban Aboriginal children in this cohort had OM and two-thirds with hearing impairment had OM. Implications for Public Health: Findings highlight importance of early detection and support for ear health, particularly in pre-school-aged children with risk factors.
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:78180
M3 - Article
VL - 47
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
IS - 4
M1 - 100075
ER -