An Observational Study to Compare Prevalence and Demography of Sensorineural Hearing Loss Among Military Personnel and Civilian Population

We report an overall prevalence of 3.78% SNHL in the ENT OPD. Specifically the prevalence of SNHL among military personnel was 2.17% and in civilian population was 4.83% (P <  0.0001). The mean age of the military personnel was significantly less than civilians (62.53 ± 10.03 vs 65.98 ± 12.46,P = 0.003). There were 68% Males and 32% females. Significantly higher number of males were present in military group as all participants were males (100% vs 58.62%,P <  0.0001). There was no significant difference in the laterality of SNHL between Military personnel and the civilian population with bilateral involvement being common in both populations. It can be concluded that bilateral SNHL type is the most common type of hearing impairment among military pers onnel as well as civilians complaining of HL. Males of 51–70 years are most affected with SNHL.
Source: Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery - Category: ENT & OMF Source Type: research