Estudo da perda auditiva em crianças de zero a 14 anos atendidas em um serviço de referência

Abstract

Introduction: Hearing impairment in childhood, resulting in a deficit in language reception and expression of undermining the social, emotional, cognitive and communicative individual. Deafness in childhood is so devastating, that prevents the child to develop fully, forcing it to the exclusion of their social environment. General Objective: To study hearing loss in children seen in a reference. Specific Objectives: To determine the proportion of major risk factors for hearing loss and determine the main types and degrees of hearing loss; establish the average time between the suspicion of hearing loss for the family and the first audiological diagnosis, estimate the proportion of hearing loss avoidable. Delimeamento Study: cross sectional study. Place of study: Department of Audiology, Center for Integrated Medical Attention (NAMI) at the University of Fortaleza. Participants: children aged zero to 14 years. Variables studied: sex, origin, who referred to the service professional, age group, median time from suspicion of hearing loss for the family and the first audiological diagnosis, type of hearing loss for the family and the first audiological diagnosis, hearing loss, degree of hearing loss, risk factors for hearing loss, deafness avoidable. Results: We evaluated 488 children, hearing loss or degree of any kind was found in 280 children (62.5%) of these, 165 (58%) were male. Pediatricians accounted for only 1.8% of referrals to the service, with most being referred by ENT (42.9%). Children aged 2-7 years represented the proportion of children assessed in May (49.3%), only 1.3% of children aged less than one year. The average time elapsed between the hearing loss suspected by the family and the first diagnosis of deafness was 3 years and 2 months. Among children who had hearing loss, there was 66.4% sensorineural loss, conductive hearing loss of 18.9%, mixed 0.7% loss and 13.9% of inconclusive examinations. For bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, the profound degree was more frequent (35.4%). Deafness potentially avoidable was estimated at 57.4%. Probable etiological factors, heredity was predominant (22.0%), followed by congenital rubella (13.9%). The problems conductive represented a total of 15 18.9% of the sample, followed by mumps, meningitis 9.6%, 7.5% to 7.5% and measles. Conclusions: It was extremely low percentage of children assessed in the first year of life (1.3%), and the average time between the suspicion of hearing loss for the family and the diagnosis of deafness (3 years 2 months). The loss of environmental origin (rubella during pregnancy, meningitis, measles, mumps and conductive problems) overcame the causes of hereditary and genetic, accounting for more than 50% of hearing loss, deafness considered preventable. The sensorineural hearing loss bilateral severe and profound were the most frequent (42.2%) are considered the most serious for the development of speech and language of the child. The dissemination of messages to the community emphasizing the importance of hearing health to child development coupled with the implementation of preventive measures against hearing loss, strategy identification and referral of children and risk, services and health professionals aware of problem may consist of effective solutions to reduce the high number of cases of disability, especially relationships with deafness prevented, preventing in this way, children can be affected by such a devastating and stigmatizing disease such as deafness.