study of hearing levels in children of rural and urban setups

ABSTRACT

To assess the hearing levels of children belonging to two different environmental set ups. A Comparative analysis. ENT department Fatima Hospital, Baqai Medical University June 2006 to Nov. 2006. Study includes 100 students of Saleemullah Fahmi Primary School and equal number of Cadets of Baqai Cadet College Gadap. Hearing levels of these two groups of children were assessed and recorded with the help of pure tone audiometer [PTA]. It was found that the hearing levels of the students of Baqai cadet college were noticeably better i.e. 59/100 having normal hearing, hearing grade-I, and 41/100 having mild loss, hearing grade-Il, than the students of Saleemullah Fahmi primary school where 41/100 having mild loss i.e. hearing grade-I and 58/1 00 moderate loss hearing grade-Il and only 01/100 having severe bilateral loss i.e. hearing grade-III. The hearing assessments of 200 sample students from rural and urban background [divided into two equal groups] were found to have different levels of hearing without any detectable pathology in their hearing apparatus