Screening of hearing disorders in schoolchildren

Prevalence and Etiology of Hearing Loss in Rural Nicaraguan Children

“…Unlike many of the previously reported studies, the majority of children who failed the examination (58%) did not have evidence of middle ear infection or fluid by pneumatic otoscopy. Only 24% of the children in this study had evidence of middle ear disease, in comparison with 39% to 75% of previous studies 17–20 . It is possible that the use of tympanometry may have detected middle ear fluid in some of these children; however, all otoscopic examinations were performed by experienced otolaryngologists, minimizing the possibility of a false‐negative examination.…”

“…Studies of school screening programs using a more stringent 25 dB level in the United States and the United Kingdom report an initial referral rate of 9.1% and 10.5%, respectively 17,18 . A Canadian study found a higher overall referral rate of 35%; however, only 10% of these children had HL greater than 30 dB, and the vast majority of those referred had evidence of middle ear disease or CHL 19 . When an otoscopic examination, otologic history, and tympanometry are included with audiometry (using the 25 dB cut off) in the screening process, the referral rate increased in one study of Boston schoolchildren to 14% 20 .…”

Parent versus professional views of the developmental impact of a multi‐faceted condition at school age: Otitis media with effusion (glue ear)

“…Despite the above cautions, the high prevalence of OME raises educational policy issues. Signal‐to‐noise ratios in classrooms are often poor, with high levels of background noise and insufficient teacher intervention to ensure audibility of their own or a child's voice (Blake & Busby, 1994; Shield & Dockrell, 2004). Despite the fact that children affected by OME show a particular deficit for understanding speech in noise (Jerger, Jerger, Alford, & Abrams, 1983; MRC Multi‐centre Otitis Media Study Group, 2004), we have been unable to find other recent policy literature linking the problems of ambient noise and OME, or directly addressing teachers' knowledge of OME and its more subtle signs.…”

“…Studies documenting developmental effects of OME typically conclude by exhorting parents and professionals to be aware of signs of the condition, and to consider how they can improve the listening environment of such children. Early work (Savary & Ferron, 1982) suggested that teachers do have some ability to detect hearing problems in the children they teach, but that the sensitivity of such judgments is low. Grundfast, Berkowitz, Conners, and Belman (1991) suggested a growing awareness of teachers in detecting and referring such children.…”