The Prevalence of Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL) In the Elderly, Lokoja, Nigeria: A Five-Year Review

Background: The process of aging is associated with degenerative changes in all parts of the human body including the neural and sensory aspect of the ear. Hearing loss is one of the disabling diseases found common in elderly patients due to these degenerative changes. Objective: To determine the prevalence and common causes of sensorineural hearing loss in the elderly. Materials and Method: All patients aged 65 years and above with sensorineural (SNHL) hearing loss diagnosed by Pure Tone Audiometric (PTA) test were included in the study. A total of 9,712 patients were seen and 564 (5.8%) of them had hearing loss. From those who had hearing loss, 336(60%) of them had diagnostic PTA test done of which 62 (18.5%) were elderly that had SNHL. They include 34males and 28 females. Their case files were retrieved from the Health Record Unit and information about their age, sex, PTA test, etiology of hearing loss were extracted, studied, analyzed, with results presented in tabular and text format. Results: The female to male ratio was 1:1.2, prevalence of 18.5% and 67.7% of them had severe SNHL of which presbyacusis was the most common cause. Conclusion: The prevalence of SNHL among the elderly is high and age related degenerative changes in the organ of Corti were found to be the most common cause.