title: Hearing loss among prison inmates in India - a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was done to assess the pattern of hearing loss and the types of ear diseases causing hearing loss among prisoners in an Indian prison.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 102 inmates were studied by subjecting them to a complete ENT evaluation and pure tone audiometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy inmates had normal bilateral peripheral hearing sensitivity while 32 had some degree of hearing impairment. Almost 50% of the hearing loss among the inmates was found to be sensorineural.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports earlier reports of high incidence of hearing loss among prison inmates. The majority with sensorineural hearing loss were in the younger age group but since this study was not designed to determine the cause or risk factors, this cannot be commented upon. Infective ear diseases were found to be a significant etiological factor for conductive hearing loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT, Unit-1, Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore, 632 004 Tamil Nadu India.
authors.forename: Regi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Job
keywords: Hearing loss; Noise — induced; Otitis media; Prisoners; Sensorineural hearing loss