World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

HEARING IMPAIRMENT: A MATTER OF CONCERN IN ELDERLY POPULATION

Devendra Kumar, Aarti Sharma*, Shivani Prajapati, S. K. Rasania, Ranjan Das

ABSTRACT

Background: Age-related hearing loss most often occurs in both ears, affecting them equally. Hearing loss can also make it hard to enjoy talking with family and friends, leading to feelings of isolation. Methods: For hearing assessment, all the participants were first administered the whisper test. Those who fail the whisper test were examined with Rinne’s test and Weber’s test for hearing status, using a 512 Hz tuning fork. Hearing impairment is defined as conductive and/or sensori-neural deafness of both ears as assessed by Whisper test, Weber’s test and Rinne’s test (using 512 Hz tuning fork).3 Results: The prevalence of hearing impairment was found to be 12.8% in the study population more in males (15.1%) as compared to females (10.9%). Maximum prevalence of 46.6% was noted in males of 80 & above age group while it was 31.2% for females in the same age group. Conclusion: The Govt. should effectively plan health care services focussing on elderly and prepare a feasible implementation design which is relevant to country needs.

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