Biomaterial Database

Ear health and hearing in urban Aboriginal children. 2023

Jack DeLacy, and Leonie Burgess, and Mandy Cutmore, and Simone Sherriff, and Susan Woolfenden, and Kathleen Falster, and Emily Banks, and Alison Purcell, and Kelvin Kong, and Harvey Coates, and John Curotta, and Markeeta Douglas, and Kym Slater, and Aleathia Thompson, and Jacqueline Stephens, and Juanita Sherwood, and Peter McIntyre, and Jean Tsembis, and Michelle Dickson, and Jonathan Craig, and Hasantha Gunasekera

The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Sax Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: jack.delacy@sydney.edu.au.

OBJECTIVE Evaluate ear health and hearing among urban Aboriginal children and quantify relationships with child, family and social factors. METHODS Baseline questionnaire and ear health examinations from 1430 children with diagnoses (0.5-18 years) attending Aboriginal Health Services enrolled in SEARCH. Ear health outcomes were Otitis Media (OM), and hearing loss (three-frequency average hearing loss >20dB) diagnosed using pneumatic otoscopy, tympanometry, and audiometry. RESULTS Half the children 0.5-3 years had OM (51.5%, 136/264). One third 0.5-18 years (30.4%; 435/1430) had OM, including 1.8% (26/1430) with perforation (0.8% chronic suppurative OM, 0.6% dry perforation and 0.4% acute OM with perforation). One quarter 0.5-18 years (25.7%; 279/1087) had hearing loss; 12.4% unilateral, 13.2% bilateral (70.6% with bilateral loss had concurrent OM). OM was associated with: younger age (0.5-<3 years versus 6-18 years) age-sex-site; adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR)=2.64, 95%, 2.18-3.19); attending childcare/preschool (aPR=1.24, 95%CI, 1.04-1.49); foster care (aPR=1.40, 95%CI, 1.10-1.79); previous ear infection/s (aPR=1.68, 95%CI, 1.42-1.98); and ≥2 people/bedroom (aPR=1.66, 95%CI, 1.24-2.21). Hearing impairment was associated with younger age (0.5-<6 years vs. ≥6 years aPR=1.89, 95%CI, 1.40-2.55) and previous ear infection (aPR=1.87, 95%CI, 1.31-2.68). CONCLUSIONS Half the urban Aboriginal children in this cohort had OM and two-thirds with hearing impairment had OM. CONCLUSIONS Findings highlight importance of early detection and support for ear health, particularly in pre-school-aged children with risk factors.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D010033	Otitis Media	Inflammation of the MIDDLE EAR including the AUDITORY OSSICLES and the EUSTACHIAN TUBE.	Middle Ear Inflammation,Inflammation, Middle Ear
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D006303	Health Services, Indigenous	Health care provided to specific cultural or tribal peoples which incorporates local customs, beliefs, and taboos.	Indigenous Health Services,Indigenous Services, Health,Services, Indigenous Health,Health Indigenous Service,Health Indigenous Services,Health Service, Indigenous,Indigenous Health Service,Indigenous Service, Health,Service, Health Indigenous,Service, Indigenous Health,Services, Health Indigenous
D006309	Hearing	The ability or act of sensing and transducing ACOUSTIC STIMULATION to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. It is also called audition.	Audition
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000095283	Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples	The two groups of indigenous aboriginal peoples of Australia. They include Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. These are two distinct peoples with unique histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs.	Aboriginal Australians,Aborigines, Australian,Australian Aboriginal People,Australian Aboriginal Peoples,Australian Race,Australian Torres Strait Islander Peoples,Australoid Race,Indigenous Australians,Torres Strait Islanders,Aboriginal Australian,Aboriginal People, Australian,Aborigine, Australian,Australian Aborigine,Australian Aborigines,Australian Races,Australian, Aboriginal,Australian, Indigenous,Australoid Races,Indigenous Australian,People, Australian Aboriginal,Race, Australian,Race, Australoid,Torres Strait Islander
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D034381	Hearing Loss	A general term for the complete or partial loss of the ability to hear from one or both ears.	Deafness, Transitory,Hearing Impairment,Hearing Loss, Transitory,Hypoacusis,Transitory Hearing Loss,Deafnesses, Transitory,Hypoacuses,Loss, Hearing,Loss, Transitory Hearing,Transitory Deafness,Transitory Deafnesses,Transitory Hearing Losses