Impact and Factors Associated with Presbycusis among 50 Years Old People of Parakou and Over in 2021

Abstract

Introduction: Presbycusis or age-related hearing loss is a condition of insidious onset with significant socio-professional repercussions. The objective of this study was to determine the impact and factors associated with presbycusis among 50 years aged people or older in Parakou commune during 2021. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive, analytical study with prospective data collection. The study has involved 541 50 years aged people or older, from February to May 2021. For each of them, a questionnaire was completed, otoscopy and tone audiometry performed. The ERSA questionnaire and the logistic regression model were used to determine the impact and factors associated with presbycusis. Results: The mean age was 59.48 ± 9.80 years and the sex ratio was 1.23. The prevalence of presbycusis was 50.28%. Age ≥ 80 years (p = 0.002), male sex (p = 0.016), low educational level (p = 0.001), family history of age-related hearing loss (p = 0.018) and presence of hearing loss (p = 0.001) were significantly associated with presbycusis in multivariate analysis. Of the life domains studied, personal life (mean score = 32.9 ± 10.52) was the most affected. Similarly, communication in a noisy environment (mean score = 4.39 ± 2.39) was the most affected aspect of personal life. Conclusion: Presbycusis leads to an impairment of personal life. A good knowledge of the associated factors and an early management could contribute to the improvement of the hearing health of the elderly.