[Prevalence of hearing loss in elderly individuals over 65 years of age: a pilot study in Lombardia (Italy)].
A cross sectional study was performed to determine the prevalence of hearing loss in individuals over age 65 years presenting to a medical centre in Lombardia (Italy). The aim was to assess the feasibility of performing a survey to evaluate the prevalence of hearing loss in the entire region. Audiometric testing was performed in each enrolled subject, to reveal losses in hearing levels at 250 to 8000 Hz; hearing levels were measured in decibels. Prevalences of mild, moderate, severe, and profound hearing impairment were found to be 39%, 17.4%, 2.9% and 0.6% respectively when using the WHO classification, and 59.9%, 25.6%, 2.9%, and 0.6% respectively when using the classification of the Bureau International d'Audiophonologie (BIAP).This study has shown that a relevant part of the study population is affected by hearing impairment and has served as a pilot study for a larger-scale study to be performed in the Lombardia region.
Arpesella
Marisa
M
Università degli studi di Pavia-Dipartimento di Medicina Preventiva, Occupazionale e di Comunità Sezione di Igiene, Pavia. marisa.arpesella@unipv.it
Ambrosetti
Umberto
U
De Martini
Gianni
G
Emanuele
Lucia
L
Lottaroli
Stefano
S
Redaelli
Tommaso
T
Sarchi
Pierangelo
P
Segagni Lusignani
L
L
Traverso
Alessandra
A
Cesarani
Antonio
A
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003638:Deafness / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors