Ear health and hearing in urban Aboriginal children

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

doi:10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100075

Ear health and hearing in urban Aboriginal children

Aust N Z J Public Health. 2023 Aug;47(4):100075. doi: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100075. Epub 2023 Jul 28.

Authors

Jack DeLacy¹, Leonie Burgess², Mandy Cutmore², Simone Sherriff³, Susan Woolfenden⁴, Kathleen Falster⁴, Emily Banks⁵, Alison Purcell⁶, Kelvin Kong⁷, Harvey Coates⁸, John Curotta⁹, Markeeta Douglas¹⁰, Kym Slater¹¹, Aleathia Thompson¹², Jacqueline Stephens¹³, Juanita Sherwood¹⁴, Peter McIntyre¹⁵, Jean Tsembis², Michelle Dickson⁶, Jonathan Craig¹³, Hasantha Gunasekera¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ 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.
² The Sax Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Sax Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁶ The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁷ Newcastle Private Medical Suites, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
⁸ University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁹ Sydney Children's Hospital Network, Australia.
¹⁰ Awabakal Aboriginal Medical Service, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
¹¹ Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
¹² Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia.
¹³ Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
¹⁴ The University of Technology Sydney, NSW, Australia.
¹⁵ University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ, Australia.
¹⁶ The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

PMID: 37517360
DOI: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100075

Abstract

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.

Implications for public health: Findings highlight importance of early detection and support for ear health, particularly in pre-school-aged children with risk factors.

Keywords: Aboriginal; Indigenous; ear health; hearing; otitis media.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Child
Child, Preschool
Health Services, Indigenous*
Hearing
Hearing Loss* / epidemiology
Humans
Infant
Otitis Media* / epidemiology