Hearing disabled children--epidemiology and identification.
An investigation of hearing disabled children was performed in the Copenhagen City and County in order to: evaluate the prevalence and incidence of congenital/early acquired hearing disability and delineate any change in these parameters compared to the 1970'ies; evaluate the time of identification of the hearing impaired child; indicate who first suspects the child's hearing disability. It was demonstrated that the prevalence of hearing aid treated children had been reduced with 40-42%, however, the incidence was unchanged 0.13%. An annual variance of 0.06-0.20% was present. No significant difference in the incidence was found between the two geografical areas. The median age at identification was 15-18 months, and only 32-48% of the hearing disabled children had been identified at the age of 1 year, showing an improvement in comparison to the 15-16% identified at the same age in the 1970'ies. Children, who could be registered as auditory at-risk were not identified earlier than the non-at-risk children. In 57-67% of the children the parents were the first to suspect the hearing disability. On the basis of the investigation it is concluded that the incidence of congenital/early acquired hearing disability in children is unchanged over a 10 year period, and that a delayed identification of these children is present although an improvement in the early identification has taken place.
Parving
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Department of Audiology, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male