Abstract
Investigating the prevalence and characteristics of hearing loss (HL) among sex and different age groups is a fundamental step for a better understanding of the
risk factors and mechanisms underlying this condition.
Nevertheless, the number of population-based epidemiological studies on HL characterization and audiogram configuration is scarce. The purpose of this
study was to characterize HL among adults ( > 18 years) in a large Danish population-based sample. All hearing examinations from the public health system of the region of Southern Denmark have been electronically recorded
from 1996 and merged into a single database, named the Hearing Examinations of Southern Denmark (HESD) database. This database contains hearing information of more than 143,000 adults, totalizing 271,575 valid pure-tone audiograms (i.e. audiograms with air conduction (AC) thresholds at four octave frequencies (500-4000 Hz) or more). The following parameters were evaluated:
1) severity (i.e. mild, moderate, medium and severe) determined by the pure-tone averages; 2) asymmetry (i.e. symmetric and asymmetric HL) based on the number of interaural AC threshold differences ≥ 10 dB and 15
dB; 3) type of lesion (i.e. conductive, sensorineural and mixed); 4) audiogram configuration (i.e. flat, high frequency gently sloping (HFGS), high frequency
steeply sloping (HFSS), low frequency ascending (LFA), mild frequency U-shape (MFU), mild frequency reverse U-shape (MFRU) and unspecified) based on the methods proposed by Demeester et al. (2009) and Hannula et al.
(2011); and 5) speech discrimination using monosyllabic words in quiet (i.e. excellent, good, fair, poor and very poor). The results from the HL characterization indicate HFSS as the most prevalent audiogram configuration,
both among men (63.1% for left ear and 60.7% for right ear) and women (33.7% for left ear and 31.6% for right ear). However, there is a substantially larger
prevalence for HFGS and flat configuration for women (for left ear: 29.3% and 21%, respectively) compared to men (18.8% and 9.4%), suggesting sex differences in the configuration distribution. Furthermore, when unspecified cases were not considered, sensorineural HL was found as the most prevalent type of lesion for both men and women (for left ear: 67.2% and 61.9%,
respectively), followed by mixed HL (24.8% and 24.3%). The insights hereby obtained highlight the potential of ARO Abstracts 127 Volume 43, 2020
the HESD database as a promising source of audiology-related epidemiological data, not just to evaluate hearing profiling among adults, but to further explore the effects of hearing impairment on a range of health outcomes (e.g. cognitive impairment and cardiovascular diseases).
risk factors and mechanisms underlying this condition.
Nevertheless, the number of population-based epidemiological studies on HL characterization and audiogram configuration is scarce. The purpose of this
study was to characterize HL among adults ( > 18 years) in a large Danish population-based sample. All hearing examinations from the public health system of the region of Southern Denmark have been electronically recorded
from 1996 and merged into a single database, named the Hearing Examinations of Southern Denmark (HESD) database. This database contains hearing information of more than 143,000 adults, totalizing 271,575 valid pure-tone audiograms (i.e. audiograms with air conduction (AC) thresholds at four octave frequencies (500-4000 Hz) or more). The following parameters were evaluated:
1) severity (i.e. mild, moderate, medium and severe) determined by the pure-tone averages; 2) asymmetry (i.e. symmetric and asymmetric HL) based on the number of interaural AC threshold differences ≥ 10 dB and 15
dB; 3) type of lesion (i.e. conductive, sensorineural and mixed); 4) audiogram configuration (i.e. flat, high frequency gently sloping (HFGS), high frequency
steeply sloping (HFSS), low frequency ascending (LFA), mild frequency U-shape (MFU), mild frequency reverse U-shape (MFRU) and unspecified) based on the methods proposed by Demeester et al. (2009) and Hannula et al.
(2011); and 5) speech discrimination using monosyllabic words in quiet (i.e. excellent, good, fair, poor and very poor). The results from the HL characterization indicate HFSS as the most prevalent audiogram configuration,
both among men (63.1% for left ear and 60.7% for right ear) and women (33.7% for left ear and 31.6% for right ear). However, there is a substantially larger
prevalence for HFGS and flat configuration for women (for left ear: 29.3% and 21%, respectively) compared to men (18.8% and 9.4%), suggesting sex differences in the configuration distribution. Furthermore, when unspecified cases were not considered, sensorineural HL was found as the most prevalent type of lesion for both men and women (for left ear: 67.2% and 61.9%,
respectively), followed by mixed HL (24.8% and 24.3%). The insights hereby obtained highlight the potential of ARO Abstracts 127 Volume 43, 2020
the HESD database as a promising source of audiology-related epidemiological data, not just to evaluate hearing profiling among adults, but to further explore the effects of hearing impairment on a range of health outcomes (e.g. cognitive impairment and cardiovascular diseases).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 25. Jan 2020 |
| Publication status | Published - 25. Jan 2020 |
| Event | 43rd Annual Midwinter Meeting for the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) - San José, United States Duration: 25. Jan 2020 → 29. Jan 2020 http://aro.org |
Conference
| Conference | 43rd Annual Midwinter Meeting for the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | San José |
| Period | 25/01/2020 → 29/01/2020 |
| Internet address |