Abstract Details

<< Back to Schedule

10/13/2017  |   5:30 PM - 7:15 PM   |  West Ballroom at Shalala Student Services Building

Pediatric hearing loss in Kumasi, Ghana: a pilot validation study using in community metrics to establish feasibility of testing.

The incidence of pediatric hearing loss in Kumasi, Ghana is currently not known as there are no newborn or pediatric hearing screening mandates. The purpose of this cooperative effort between the University of Michigan and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and the School of Public Health at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is to establish the feasibility of field metrics to investigate the rates of pediatric hearing loss in the community. Using the ShoeBox® audiometer and the validated Little Ears® questionnaire, 31 children were screened in the community over a two-day period. Children both males (n=12) and females (n=19) aged 3-12 (average age 8) were screened with air conduction pure tones where 5/31 children were deemed to be referrals that would require further definitive audiometric testing. Interestingly, all children passed the LittleEars® questionnaire where the average score on the 35-question survey was 34. In summary, these data demonstrate the feasibility of portable audiometric testing in the community and the use of adjunct questionnaires to investigate the rates of pediatric hearing loss in Kumasi, Ghana. Future studies will expand the number of children tested and the catchment area to establish more specific rates of pediatric hearing loss. The long-term goal is to determine the rates of loss and how children are referred to outpatient clinics for more definitive testing and rehabilitation if appropriate and/or available.

• To appreciate the rates of pediatric hering loss in Kumasi, Ghana.
• To learn about methods used in the community to test for hearing loss.
• To understand the goals of a long-term medical and educational partnership to improve evaluation and treatments of pediatric hearing loss in Kumasi, Ghana.

Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

Handouts:
No handouts have been uploaded.

Gregory Basura (POC,Primary Presenter,Author,Co-Author), University of Michigan; Department of Otolaryngology, gbasura@umich.edu;
Dr. Basura is an Assistant Professor at the department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan; Division of Otology/Neurotology-Skull Base Surgery. He has training in both basic neuroscience and surgery. He is involved in investigating disease processes like tinnitus and auditory aberrancy from a fundamental basic science perspective as well as maintaining the clinical opportunity to extrapolate investigative inquiry to the human condition. He is involved in an outreach and long-term medical partnership with Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ghana that is geared towards establishing sustained platforms to expand education and research initiatives in otology and audiology.