Male sex, type of hearing impairment associated with ocular conditions in deaf children
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Key takeaways:
- The prevalence of ocular comorbidity was 26.5%, the most common of which was glaucoma (46.2%).
- Ocular disease was linked with male sex and type of hearing impairment but not age, severity or cause of impairment.
The prevalence of ocular comorbidities among hearing-impaired children was significant and associated with male sex and type of hearing impairment, according to research conducted in Malawi and published in Clinical Optometry.
“Visual and hearing senses combined account for 95% information acquisition,” Tambuzai Liyo, from Mzuzu University in Malawi, and colleagues wrote. “Hence, deaf children rely on their sense of vision to interact with the world. Individuals with [hearing impairment (HI)] use vision to compensate for auditory information, and hearing impairment can negatively impact their quality of life and social and academic performance; hence, a sense of vision compensates for these effects.”
In a cross-sectional study of 147 hearing-impaired children (48.3% girls; mean age, 14.3 years) at Embangweni Primary School for the Deaf, researchers performed a series of optometric and audiometric tests to assess the prevalence of ocular comorbidities and associated factors.
About two-thirds of the children were congenitally deaf (66.7%), while 33.3% had acquired deafness. Most participants had profound hearing impairment, with just 3.4% experiencing moderate impairment and 1.4% mild impairment.
According to results, the prevalence of ocular morbidity was 26.5%, the most common of which was glaucoma (46.2%), followed by vernal keratoconjunctivitis (17.9%) and bacterial conjunctivitis (7.7%).
The researchers noted a significant association between male sex and prevalence of ocular comorbidity, with eye conditions reported in 34.2% of boys vs. 18.3% of girls (P = .02), as well as an association between the type of hearing impairment and ocular comorbidity (P = .031).
Researchers reported no significant associations between prevalence of ocular morbidity and age group, severity or cause of hearing impairment.
“The prevalence of ocular conditions among HI students was significant and associated with sex,” Liyo and colleagues wrote. “Regular school vision screening of students with HI is highly advised to reduce the burden of visual impairment.”
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