Prevalence of hearing loss in patients with sickle cell disease in the southeast of Iran

Ghasem  Miri-Aliabad; Majid Naderi; Aziz Eghbali; Ebrahim Pirasteh; Farzad Hamzehpour; Asma Erish

doi:10.18502/ijpho.v14i2.15274

Ghasem Miri-Aliabad Department of Pediatrics, Ali Asghar Childrens Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Majid Naderi Children and Adolescent Health Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
Aziz Eghbali Department of Pediatrics, Ali Asghar Childrens Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ebrahim Pirasteh Department of Audiology, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
Farzad Hamzehpour Department of Audiology, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
Asma Erish Deparetment of Pediatrics, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijpho.v14i2.15274

Keywords: Hearing loss, Prevalence, Sickle cell disease

Abstract

Background: One of the complications of sickle cell disease (SCD) is hearing loss. The purpose of the present study is to determine the prevalence of hearing loss in SCD.

Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study conducted on 100 patients with SCD in 2019-2020. All the patients underwent otololaryngological examination and audiometric tests to assess their hearing status. The type and severity of hearing loss were determined, the demographic information of the patients was recorded, and the data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 21, a Chi-square test, and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The P-values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 17.6 ± 10.8 years. Of them, 60% were male. Hearing loss was diagnosed in 26 patients (26%), 16 of whom had sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and 10 had conductive hearing loss (CHL). In terms of the disease severity, 12, 10, 3 and 1 patients had mild, moderate, severe and profound hearing loss, respectively. The mean age of the patients with SNHL was significantly higher than the median age of the subjects with CHL (p-value = 0.043). Also, the patients with hearing loss had no statistically significant difference in terms of the variables of age, gender, unilateral or bilateral ear involvement and type of SCD (p-value = 0.069).

Conclusion: This study revealed a hearing loss frequency of 26% among patients with SCD. Regular hearing assessment and timely treatment and rehabilitation measures are recommended for these patients.